Sunday, July 21, 2013

Mu'awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan - Muhammad Dawud Khan

Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi SufyanMu‘awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan (Mu'awiyah I) (Moawiyah) (b. 602, Mecca, Arabia - d. April/May 680, Damascus).Founder of the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs based in Syria (r.661-680).He had been a crypto-Muslim since 628, and made his Islam manifest in 630.His sister Umm Habiba was married to the Prophet.He functioned as a commander against the Byzantines, and in 646 Syria and al-Jazira were under his control.Against the Byzantines, he established strong garrisons along the coast and instituted Arab maritime warfare in the Mediterranean.The Caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, while being besieged in his Medinan residence in 656, sent word to Mu‘awiya asking for help, but the relief force turned back on learning that ‘Uthman had been killed.Thereafter Mu‘awiya bided his time while the Prophet’s son-in-law ‘Ali sought to establish himself as leader.After the Battle of the Camel, ‘Ali elicited Mu‘awiya’s oath of allegiance, but, with the support of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, Mu‘awiya decided to fight ‘Ali, alleging vengeance for ‘Uthman.After the Battle of Siffin in 656, Mu‘awiya was recognized as caliph by the Syrians and by ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, who then went to conquer Egypt.While ‘Ali’s position grew weaker in Iraq fighting the Kharijites, Mu‘awiya again bided his time.‘Ali was murdered by a Kharijite in 661, and Mu ‘awiya became caliph.To posterity, his image is ambivalent.He was seen not just as the man who perverted the caliphate into kingship, but also as a clever and successful ruler.He is either cursed or venerated, the legitimacy of his caliphate being a far more important issue than its historical nature.

Muʿāwiyah I was an early Islamic leader and founder of the great Umayyad dynasty of caliphs. He fought against the fourth caliph, ʿAlī (Muhammad’s son-in-law), seized Egypt, and assumed the caliphate after ʿAlī’s assassination in 661. He restored unity to the Muslim empire and made Damascus its capital. He reigned from 661 to 680.

It is ironic that a man who was to become the political-religious head of Islam was born into a clan (ʿAbd Shams) that rejected the Prophet Muhammad in his home city, Mecca, and continued to oppose him on the battlefield after he had emigrated to Medina. Muʿāwiyah did not become a Muslim until Muhammad had conquered Mecca and had reconciled his former enemies by gifts. Possibly as a part of Muhammad’s policy of conciliation, Muʿāwiyah was made a scribe in his service. But Muʿāwiyah’s contributions to Islamic history are wholly associated with his career in Syria, which began shortly after the death of the Prophet, when he, along with his brother Yazīd, served in the tribal armies sent from Arabia against the Byzantine forces in Syria.

Upon the death of Yazīd in 640, Muʿāwiyah was appointed governor of Damascus by the caliph ʿUmar and gradually gained mastery over other areas of Syria. By 647 Muʿāwiyah had built a Syrian tribal army strong enough to repel a Byzantine attack and in subsequent years to take the offensive against the Byzantines in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus (649) and Rhodes (654) and a devastating defeat of the Byzantine navy off the coast of Lycia in Anatolia (655). At the same time, Muʿāwiyah periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia. All these campaigns, however, came to a halt with the accession of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to the caliphate, when a new and decisive phase of Muʿāwiyah’s career began.

As a kinsman of the slain caliph ʿUthmān, Muʿāwiyah bore the duty of revenge. Because ʿAlī neglected to apprehend and punish ʿUthmān’s murderers, Muʿāwiyah regarded him as an accomplice to the murder and refused to acknowledge his caliphate. Thereupon ʿAlī marched to the Euphrates border of Syria and engaged Muʿāwiyah’s troops at the famous Battle of Ṣiffīn (657). Muʿāwiyah’s guile turned near defeat into a truce. Resorting to a trick that played upon the religious sensibilities of ʿAlī’s forces, he persuaded the enemy to enter into negotiations that ultimately cast doubt on the legitimacy of ʿAlī’s caliphate and alienated a sizable number of his supporters. When these former supporters—the Khārijites—rose in rebellion against ʿAlī, Muʿāwiyah took advantage of ʿAlī’s difficulties in Iraq to send a force to seize control of Egypt. Thus, when ʿAlī was assassinated in 661, Muʿāwiyah held both Syria and Egypt and, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim empire, had the strongest claim to the caliphate. ʿAlī’s son Ḥasan was persuaded to remove himself from public life in exchange for a subsidy, which Muʿāwiyah provided.

During his 20-year governorship of Syria and during the war against ʿAlī, Muʿāwiyah had succeeded in recruiting and training a large Arab tribal army that was remarkably loyal to him. It was therefore natural that he should base his caliphate in Syria, with Damascus as the new capital of Islam. But, if Muʿāwiyah’s chief support came from the tribes of Syria, the tribes of other areas posed the chief threat to his reign. It is not surprising then that early Umayyad government followed certain tribal principles as a means of retaining and winning the loyalty of the Arabs. The clearest examples of such a policy are provided by Muʿāwiyah’s adoption of two tribal institutions: the council of notables—the shūrā—which was convoked by the caliph for consultation and the delegations—wufūd—which were sent by tribes to keep the caliph informed of their interest. Within this context, Muʿāwiyah ruled as a traditional Arab chieftain. Although he may not have consciously encouraged renewed warfare against non-Muslim territory as a means of directing Bedouin aggressive tendencies into channels that would aggrandize Islam and stabilize his own power, there is no doubt that warfare served these purposes during his reign, and in this respect it is significant that Muʿāwiyah used the Syrian army only for domestic defense and for campaigns against the Byzantines, who threatened the borders of Syria.

During the civil war, Muʿāwiyah had purchased a truce with the Byzantines in order to free his army for the struggle against ʿAlī. Soon after his accession to the caliphate, however, he curtailed the payment of tribute and sent expeditions against the Byzantines almost yearly. These campaigns served both to fulfill Muʿāwiyah’s obligation to conduct holy war (jihad) against unbelievers and to keep his Syrian troops in fighting trim. Otherwise, the war against Byzantium was inconclusive. Even though two expeditions reached the vicinity of Constantinople, the Arabs never succeeded in permanently occupying territory in Asia Minor beyond the Taurus Mountains. Troops stationed in other parts of Muʿāwiyah’s empire were sent on campaigns into remote areas. In North Africa, raids were conducted as far west as Tlemcen in present-day Algeria. More permanent, however, was the conquest of Tripolitania and Ifrīqīyah, which was consolidated by the foundation in 670 of the garrison city of Kairouan, soon to become the base for further expansion later in the Umayyad period. At the same time, a vigorous campaign was being conducted in the east by means of which Muslim borders were extended to the Oxus River and Khorāsān was established as an Umayyad province.

It had become apparent during the reigns of the first caliphs that tribal tradition and the practices of Muhammad in Medina were inadequate resources for administering a vast empire. To solve this problem, Muʿāwiyah resorted to a solution that lay at hand in Syria—that is, the imitation of administrative procedures that had evolved during centuries of Roman and Byzantine rule there. Although the process by which the borrowing took place is not fully known, it is clear that Muʿāwiyah initiated certain practices that were apparently inspired by the previous tradition. Basically, he aimed at increased organization and centralization of the caliphal government in order to exert control over steadily expanding territories. This he achieved by the establishment of bureaus—dīwāns—in Damascus to conduct the affairs of government efficiently. Early Arabic sources credit two dīwāns in particular to Muʿāwiyah: the dīwān al-khatam, or chancellery, and the barīd, or postal service, both of which were obviously intended to improve communications within the empire. Prominent positions within the nascent bureaucracy were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, especially in Syria itself.

Such administrative innovations coupled with the observance of tribal traditions caused historians of a later period to deny Muʿāwiyah the religious title of caliph and to characterize him as a king (malik) instead. As a symbol of the increasingly secular nature of the caliphate, derived in part from a non-Islamic tradition, the title is apt for Muʿāwiyah and for most of the Umayyads. It is particularly appropriate for the most startling of all of Muʿāwiyah’s innovations, the one by which he secured the allegiance of the tribes for the caliphate of his son Yazīd and thereby established the practice of hereditary rule in Islam. As an alternative to the various unreliable precedents for selecting a caliph, this measure was certainly consonant with Muʿāwiyah’s policy and achievement as caliph, which, in summary, consisted of invigorating the theocratic origins of Islamic governance with borrowings from other traditions better adapted to the demands of tribesmen and the needs of an empire.

Muʿāwiyah stands out as one of the few caliphs who is depicted both in Muslim historiography and in modern scholarship as a decisive force in Islamic history. Undoubtedly one reason for the prominence that is assigned to him is that he was a controversial figure. Pious scholars of the dominant Sunni sect of Islam, together with writers of the minority, dissenting Shīʿites, have always heaped opprobrium on Muʿāwiyah: the Sunni because of his deviations from the pattern of leadership set by the Prophet Muhammad and the “rightly guided” caliphs, the Shīʿites because he had usurped the caliphate from ʿAlī.

Although Muʿāwiyah has been and still is condemned for his sins from these two quarters, he has also been the subject of lavish praise in Arabic literature as the ideal ruler. Unlike most of the other caliphs, Muʿāwiyah looms large in Islamic history because he has consistently aroused partisanship at different extremes. But, beneath the biased portraits given in traditional Muslim historiography, there is a person whose actual accomplishments were of great magnitude quite apart from partisan value judgments and interpretations. These accomplishments lay primarily in political and military administration, through which Muʿāwiyah was able to rebuild a Muslim state that had fallen into anarchy and to renew the Arab Muslim military offensive against unbelievers.

Mu'awiyah I see Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi SufyanMoawiyah see Mu‘awiya I ibn Abi Sufyan

Mu’ayyad bi-‘llah Muhammad, al-Mu’ayyad bi-‘llah Muhammad, al-. Name of two Qasimi Zaydi Imams of Yemen, the best known being al-Mansur bi’llah al-Qasim (b. 1582; r. 1620-1644).During his reign the Ottoman Turks were expelled from Yemen in 1635 after a continuous presence of a century.

Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din Abu Nasr, al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din Abu Nasr, al- (c.990-1077) was an eminent Isma‘ili missionary.He played a leading role as an intermediary between the Fatimids and al-Basasiri, the military commander of the Buyids, in the campaign of 1057 against the Saljuqs.He left an autobiography which is considered to be the apogee of Isma‘ili learning.

Mubarak, HosniMubarak, Hosni (Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak) (Muḥammad Ḥasnī Sayyid Mubārak) (Husnī Mubārak) (b. May 4, 1928).President of Egypt (1981-2011).Mubarak became president in 1981.Mubarak was born in Kafr-al Meselha, the son of an inspector of the Ministry of Justice.Mubarak was educated at Egypt’s national Military Academy and Air Force Academy and at the Frunze General Staff Academy in Moscow in the Soviet Union.

Mubarak joined the air force in 1950, and became air force chief of staff in 1969, and commander in chief in 1972.He had several military positions under President Sadat, such as deputy minister of war, and was one of Sadat’s closest advisors.

In 1975, Mubarak was appointed vice president.Mubarak was elected president on October 13, 1981, one week after Sadat had been assassinated.Mubarak declared on his inauguration that he would continue the political line of Sadat, which had been one of reconciliation with the West, and peace with Israel inside internationally recognized borders.

Mubarak instituted a vigorous economic recovery program; remained committed to the peace treaty with Israel (signed by Sadat in 1979); mended relations with other Arab states; and initiated a policy he called “positive neutrality” toward the great powers.He was re-elected when his National Democratic Party won the October 1987 elections and was thus able to nominate him as the sole candidate for president.With serious economic problems and rising Islamic fundamentalist opposition at home, Mubarak continued to seek an end to the stalemate that had developed between Israel and Arab nations.

Mubarak supported the 1990 United Nations sanctions against Iraq when that country invaded Kuwait, orchestrated Arab League opposition to the invasion, committed about 38,500 troops to the anti-Iraq coalition in the Persian Gulf War (1991), and supported postwar efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.Re-elected in 1993, Mubarak cracked down on Muslim fundamentalists.

Mubarak survived an assassination attempt unharmed in June 1995 in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Adaba.Five of the assailants were killed during or after the ambush and three escaped to Sudan, which is widely believed to have sponsored the attack.

In November 1995, just before parliamentary elections, Mubarak’s government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of helping violent Islamic groups.Many of the Muslim Brotherhood’s members were arrested, and several who planned to run in the elections or monitor them were tried and sentenced to prison.Critics accused the government of trying to eliminate even peaceful opponents.In the elections that followed, Mubarak’s National Democratic Party won an overwhelming victory.Mubarak was elected to a fourth six year term in 1999.

During his tenure as President, Mubarak survived six assassination attempts. In June 1995 there was an alleged assassination attempt involving noxious gases and Egyptian Islamic Jihad while he was in Ethiopia for a conference of the Organization of African Unity. Upon return Mubarak is said to have authorized bombings on Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya which by 1999 saw 20,000 persons placed in detention related to the revolutionary Islamic organizations. Another assassination attempt occurred in 1999 when he "was slightly wounded after being attacked by a knife-wielding assailant".

President Mubarak spoke out against the 2003 war on Iraq, arguing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved first. He also claimed that the war would cause "100 Bin Ladens." President Mubarak did not support an immediate United States pull out from Iraq as he believed it would lead to probable chaos.

In July 2004, Mubarak accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and most of the cabinet. He then appointed Ahmed Nazif as the new Prime Minister. The new cabinet was generally viewed with optimism. The new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was somewhat successful in overcoming the grim economic situation. The Egyptian stock market came in first place out of all emerging markets in terms of percentage increase for the fiscal year 2004/2005. However, unemployment still persisted and Mubarak came under criticism for favoring big business and privatization as opposed to workers' rights. All this was a consequence of the wide use of privatization policy, by selling shares in most public sector companies, but it is widely believed that this reserve of previously nationalized capitals would end, leaving Nazif's government broke.

President Mubarak was re-elected by majority votes in a referendum for successive terms on four occasions: in 1987, 1993, 1999, and 2005. The results of the referendums are of questionable validity. No one could run against the President due to a restriction in the Egyptian constitution in which the People's Assembly played the main role in electing the President of the Republic.

After increased domestic and international pressure for democratic reform in Egypt, Mubarak asked the largely rubber stamp parliament on February 26, 2005 to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections by September 2005. Previously, Mubarak secured his position by having himself nominated by parliament, then confirmed without opposition in a referendum.

The September 2005 ballot was therefore a multiple candidate election rather than a referendum, but the electoral institutions, and security apparatus remained under the control of the President. The official state media, including the three government newspapers and state television also expressed views identical to the official line taken by Mubarak. After 2005, however, there developed a steady growth in independent news outlets, especially independent newspapers which occasionally criticized the President and his family severely. Satellite channels beaming from Egypt such as the Orbit Satellite Television and Radio Network for example, also exhibited relative openness as exhibited in their flagship program Al Qahira Al Yawm.

On July 28, 2005, Mubarak announced his candidacy, as he had been widely expected to do. The election which was scheduled for September 7, 2005 involved mass rigging activities, according to civil organizations that observed the elections. Reports have shown that Mubarak's party used government vehicles to take public employees to vote for him. Votes were bought for Mubarak in poor suburbs and rural areas. It was also reported that thousands of illegal votes were allowed for Mubarak from citizens who were not registered to vote. On September 8, 2005, Dr. Ayman Nour, a dissident and candidate for the Al-Ghad party - the Tomorrow party-- contested the election results, and demanded a repeat of the election.

In a move widely seen as political persecution, Nour was convicted of forgery and sentenced to five years at hard labor on December 24, 2005.

A dramatic drop in support for Mubarak occurred with the news that his son Alaa was favored in government tenders and privatization. With both of his sons directly and indirectly owning shares in a large number of companies and minor projects, Mubarak's corruption was leading a series of corruption cases among his cabinet of minor governmental employees.

While in office, political corruption in the Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior rose dramatically, due to the increased power over the institutional system that was necessary to secure the prolonged presidency. Such corruption led to the frequent imprisonment of political figures and young activists without trials, illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities, and rejecting universities, mosques, newspapers staff members based on political inclination. On a personnel level, each individual officer could and would violate citizens' privacy in his area, using unconditioned arrests, common torture and abuse of power, depending on simply brute force, rather than law, to enforce order in the officer's designated area.

The rise to power of powerful business men in the NDP in the federal government and People's Assembly led to massive waves of anger during the years of Ahmed Nazif's government. As a result, frequent laws and bills were passed, with undergiant monopolists (such as Ahmed Ezz's) influence serving personal and corporational financial interests rather than the public's.

In January 2011 thousands of protesters—angered by repression, corruption, and poverty in Egypt—took to the streets, calling for Mubārak to step down as president. Those demonstrations took place shortly after a popular uprising in Tunisia, known as the Jasmine Revolution, forced Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power. Mubārak made no public appearances until January 28—the fourth day of clashes between protesters and police—when he gave a speech on Egyptian state television indicating that he intended to remain in office. In the speech he acknowledged the protesters’ demand for political change by announcing that he would dissolve his cabinet and implement new social and economic reforms. Those concessions, however, were dismissed by protesters as a ploy to remain in power and did little to calm the unrest. The following day Mubārak appointed a vice president for the first time in his presidency, choosing Omar Suleiman, the director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service. On February 1, under pressure from continued protests, Mubārak appeared on Egyptian state television and announced that he would not stand in the presidential election scheduled for September 2011.

Under continued pressure to step down immediately, Mubārak made another televised speech on February 10. Although it was widely expected that he would use the address to announce his immediate resignation, he reiterated that he would stay in office until the end of his term, delegating some of his powers to Suleiman. Mubārak promised to institute electoral reforms and vowed to lift Egypt’s emergency law, in place since 1981, when the security situation in Egypt became sufficiently stable.

On February 11, Mubārak left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort town on the Sinai Peninsula where he maintained a residence. Hours later Suleiman appeared on Egyptian television to announce that Mubārak had stepped down as president, leaving the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a group of senior military officers, to govern the country. Upon learning of Mubārak’s resignation, crowds at Tahrir Square and other protest sites erupted in celebration.

Following Mubārak’s departure, the Egyptian government began to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power within the Mubārak regime, questioning and arresting several former officials and business leaders with close ties to Mubārak. Calls for the investigation to focus on Mubārak himself intensified, fueled by reports that the Mubārak family had amassed a fortune worth billions of dollars in overseas accounts. On April 10, the public prosecutor announced that Mubārak and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, would be questioned by investigators. Following the announcement, Mubārak made his first public statements since stepping down as president, denying the accusations of corruption. On April 12, while waiting to be questioned, Mubārak was hospitalized after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Mubārak was held in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh after an official medical evaluation concluded that his health was too fragile for him to be transferred to prison in Cairo. In May, the Egyptian state media reported that his condition had stabilized, although he needed to be treated for depression.

On May 24, the public prosecutor announced that Mubārak, Alaa, and Gamal would stand trial for ordering the killing of protesters as well as for corruption and abuse of power. On August 3, Mubārak appeared in public for the first time since stepping down, as his trial commenced in Cairo amid heavy security. Although Mubārak, reportedly suffering from poor health, was wheeled into court in a hospital bed, he appeared alert during the hearing, denying all charges against him.

Mubarrad, Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mubarrad, Abu’l-‘Abbas al- (Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mubarrad) (Abu Al-'Abbas Muhammad ibn Yazid) (Mobarrad) (Abu Al-'Abbas Muhammad Ibn Yazid) (March 25, 826, Basra - October, 898, Baghdad).Philologist from Basra.The rivalries between him and Tha‘lab led to the formation of the two famous schools of philologists at Kufa and Basra.His most famous work deals with an extensive range of themes concerning belles-lettres.

Mubarrad was an Arabian grammarian. After studying grammar in that city, he was called to the court of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil at Samarra in 860. When the caliph was killed in 861, he went to Baghdad, remaining there most of his life as a teacher.

Al-Mubarrad became the leader of the Basran grammarians against the Kufan school. His judgment, however, was independent, as is shown by his attack on some points in the grammar of Sibawayh, the greatest writer of his own school. He died at Baghdad in 898.

His main work is the grammatical one known as the Al-Kamil ("The Perfect One").Al-Mubarrad's writings are considered to be the first source recounting the story that Shahrbanu or Shahr Banu — eldest daughter of Yazdegerd III, the last Emperor of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia/Iran — had married Hussain ibn Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson and the third Shia Imam and that she gave birth to Ali Zayn al Abidin (the fourth Shia Imam). This makes all later Shia Imams descendants of the Sassanid dynasty as well as of Islam's founder, a significant point considering that Iran has by far the largest number of Shias.

MudejarMudejar. Term to designate the Muslim who, in return for the payment of tribute, continued to live in territories conquered by the Christians.

Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity. It also denotes a style of Iberian architecture and decoration, particularly of Aragon and Castile, of the 12th to 16th centuries, strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship.

The word Mudéjar is a Medieval Spanish corruption of the Arabic word Mudajjan, meaning "domesticated", in a reference to the Muslims who submitted to the rule of the Christian kings.

The Treaty of Granada (1491) protected religious and cultural freedoms for Muslims and Jews in the imminent transition from the Emirate of Granada to a Province of Castile. After the fall in the Battle of Granada in January of 1492, Mudéjars, unlike the Jews' Alhambra Decree (1492) expulsion, kept the protected religious status along with Catholic converso efforts. However, in the mid-16th century, they were forced to convert to Christianity. From that time, because of suspicions that they were not truly converted, or crypto-Muslims, they were known as Moriscos. In 1610 those who refused to convert to Christianity were expelled. The distinctive Mudéjar style is still evident in regional architecture, as well as in the music, art, and crafts.

Mueyyed-zadeMueyyed-zade (1456-1516).Ottoman theologian and legist.He encouraged rising young poets, historians and jurists and owned a private library of over 7,000 volumes.

muezzinmuezzin (mu’adhdhin) (muzim).Person who calls other Muslims to communal worship, usually from an elevated part of a mosque (e.g., the balcony of a minaret).The muezzin issues his call -- his adhan -- to public worship on Friday and to the five daily prayers.He belongs to the personnel of the mosque.

Muezzin is the person calling out for people to come to the mosque to perform salat, the five daily prayer of Islam.Traditionally, the muezzin calls out the adhan from the minaret, but in more and more mosques there have been put up loudspeakers.

The institution of muezzin belongs to the customs of the prophet Muhammad’s own time.The first muezzin was Bilal, who walked the streets to call the believers to come to prayer.

Large parts of the custom was undecided by the death of Muhammad.Which way one should choose for the calling, where it should be performed.Trumpets, flags and lamps were all elements doing the adhan in the place of the muezzin.Had the development wanted things to go differently, these could all succeed in replacing him if the debates had ended differently.

The activities of the muezzin eventually developed into rituals by themselves.The uttering of the adhan could be heard all over the cities at certain times through the day.

The first muezzins were using the roof of the mosque, or the adjacent streets, to call for people’s attention.It is believed that the institution of the muezzin -- the public crier -- existed in pre-Islamic Arab culture.

The acts of the muezzin is also an art form, reflected in melodious chanting of the adhan.

mu'adhdhin see muezzinmuzim see muezzin

Mufaddal al-Dabbi, al-Mufaddal al-Dabbi, al- (d. c. 781).Arabic philologist of the Kufan school.His principal work is an anthology of early Arabic poems, mainly pre-Islamic, known as the Mufaddaliyyat.Al-Mufaddal compiled them for his pupil, the future Caliph al-Mahdi.

Mufaddal ibn Abi’l-Fada’il, al-Mufaddal ibn Abi’l-Fada’il, al- (Moufazzal ibn Abi l-Fazil).Coptic historian of the fourteenth century.His only known work is an account of the Mameluke period from 1260 to 1348.

Al-Mufaddal was a 14th century Egyptian historian. He was a Coptic Christian. Al-Mufaddal wrote a book about the history of the Bahriyya Mamelukes, entitled al-Nahdj al-sadîd wa-l-durr al-farîd fimâ ba'd Ta'rîkh Ibn al'Amîd, covering the period from 1260 to 1340. He finished his work in 1358. Al-Mufaddal gives precise descriptions of the history of Egypt and Syria, especially the Mongol occupation of Syria. He noted down the Damascus declaration made by the Mongols, as well as the content of the letters exchanged between Ghazan and al-Nâsir.

Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid was born in 'Ukbara, a small town to the north of Baghdad and later migrated together with his father to Baghdad, where the Shiite Buwayhids were ruling. In Shi'ite tradition, he studied with the famed traditionist al-Shaykh al-Saduq Ibn Babawayh al-Qummi. Prominent students of his included Sharif al-Murtaza, al-Shaykh al-Tusi, commonly known as the leader of the Shi'a and al-Karajaki. His career coincided with that of the famous Mu'tazili theologian and leader of the Bahshamiyya school, 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Asadabadi al-Hamadhani and with the disputations and intra-sectarian conflicts in Baghdad. He was thus often attacked and his library and school was destroyed. But he remained a faithful and significant intellectual defender of Twelver Shi'ism and was respected by friends and opponents.

Al-Mufid is quite often accused of incorporating the modes of theological reasoning common in the Baghdad school of the Mu'tazila as exemplified by his teacher Abu'l-Qasim al-Ka'bi al-Balkhi into Twelver Shi'ite theology. This is however on the basis of studies relying on a Sunni interpretation of Shi'ite theological history. The Shi'ite interpretation is that the Mu'tazila borrowed from the Shi'ah long before al-Mufid and the Shi'ah doctrine was already in place at the time al-Mufid.

Al-Mufid died on the eve of Friday, 3rd of Ramadan, 1032. His student Sayyid al-Murtada led his funeral prayer (Salat-e-Mayyit), in the presence of nearly eighty thousand people, a crowd never seen before in any funeral in Baghdad..

Al-Mufid remained buried in his own house for two years, and then his body was transferred to Al Kadhimiya Mosque where it was interred near his mentor, Ja'far ibn Qawlayh's grave facing the feet of Imam Muhammad at-Taqi. His grave is still visited by those who visit the holy shrines in Kadhimayn.

MuftiMufti (Muftu). Arabic term which refers to an expert in shari‘a -- to a Sunni Muslim legal consultant. The mufti supplies the fatwa -- the authorized legal decisions.Nowadays, a mufti is the leader of the ulama in a Sunni Muslim state.

In Sunni Islam, a mufti is a specialist in religious law -- shari‘a -- whose opinion is sought on interpretations of that law.The mufti issues formal legal opinions on the basis of which a judge may decide a case or an individual may regulate his everyday affairs.The position of the grand mufti among the Sunnis is similar to that of the supreme ayatollah among the Shi‘ites.

Mufti is a religious leader who primarily deals with juridicial questions.The mufti is the only one who can issue a fatwa, which gives him the power of handling cases where there is a doubt among other Muslim learned.The root for fatwa and mufti is the same: “ftw.”

A Muslim jurist capable of giving, when requested, a non-binding opinion known as a fatwa, on a point of Islamic law is termed a mufti.During the formative period of Islam, learned Muslims whose counsel was sought on legal and ethical issues that arose in the community attempted to provide opinions and answers in the litght of their understanding of the Qur’an and in relation to the emerging body of hadith (prophetic traditions).This activity subsequently crystallized to constitute the major Muslim legal schools.In its formal aspect, the position of mufti arose and became institutionalized as a response to the need for legal opinion and advice from scholars knowledgeable in early Islamic history among the various schools of law.In time, however, the mufti came to occupy a mediating position between the qadi, the judge who administered the law, and the faqih or jurisprudent -- that is, between actual courtroom situations where justice was adminstered and places of learning where the theoretical study of legal texts took place.The mufti’s opinions were built on precedent and were incorporated in legal reference manuals such as the well-known Fatwa ‘Alamgiriyah. The mufti also played an important role in the islamization of newly converted regions through education.

Traditionally, a mufti was to be a person of integrity who possessed a thorough knowledge of established texts, traditions, and legal precedents.Although most were private scholars, some were appointed to official positions, notably in Mamluk Egypt and in the Ottoman Empire.In the Twelver Shi‘a tradition an analogous role came to be played by the mujtahid, who maintained continuity within the tradition after the ghaybah (occultation) of the twelfth imam in the ninth century.Under Safavid rule the mujtahid held the office of shaykh al-Islam.The role of such jurist/theologians eventually led to the development of the concept of wilayat al-faqih, the “governance of the jurist.”

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as legal codes of European origin were introduced to the Muslim world, the mufti’s role became limited primarily but not exclusively to the sphere of personal law.But since a mufti often acted as a religious teacher in the local community, people continued to seek his opinions on a wide range of matters dealing with practice of the faith as well as on everyday life.This role has persisted in the many new nation states that emerged after colonial rule.As many of these Muslim countries seek to integrate and institutionalize aspects of Islamic law in national life, new patterns are emerging for the mufti’s role in society.Some have been appointed as muftis of the state; other provide consensus as part of advisory councils of religious scholars or constitutional assemblies of scholars.It is the private role of the mufti, however, that continues to be influential, offering posibilities for further evolution in their creative task as counselors and mediators for tradition in times of change.

Muftu see Mufti

MuftiMufti. Among Muslim Hausa slaves in Brazil, a judicial assessor in charge of settling community disputes regarding material possessions.

MughalsMughals (Great Mughals) (Timurids).Mongolian dynasty of Turkish origin which ruled in India (r. 1526-1857).Their main capital was Agra.The first Mughal, Babur, was a descendant of Timur on his father’s side, and of Jenghiz Khan on his mother’s side.As ruler of Samarkand in 1497, he conquered Kabul in 1504 and advanced from Afghanistan to India.Following a victory over the Lodi, he became shah of India (northern and central India from 1526 to 1530).His son, Humayun (r. 1530-1556), was driven to Persia by Shir Shah Suri in 1540 and was able to win back his father’s territory only in 1555.The political high point came with the reign of Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605), who consolidated rule over Hindustan and expanded as far as Bengal in the east, exercising sovereignty over all the Muslim states in India. Akbar operated a policy of tolerance and religious reconciliation between Muslims and Hindus and reorganized the state administration.Under Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) and Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) the Mughal territories grew, trade relations with Europe intensified, and immense splendor and sumptiousness was enjoyed.Aurangzib (r. 1658-1707), the last Great Mughal of significance, conquered Bijapur (in 1686) and Golconda (in 1687), but gave up the policy of religious reconciliation in favor of a strictly Sunnite Islam.From the seventeenth century, there was political and, above all, economic pressure from the trading companies of Portugal and England.After 1707, the Mughals became increasingly insignificant.In 1739, Delhi was occupied by Nadir Shah of Persia and in 1803 by the British.The last Mughal was deposed by the British in 1857.

During their reign, the Mughals entertained relations with the Safavids of Persia, had a centralized administration, a thriving economy, and an active commerce both internal and external.As for religious life, Emperor Akbar’s attempt at reconciliation of the major religious trends inside his vast country was only one in the plethora of religious movements during Mughal times.Mughal architecture created a supremely confident style by synthesizing the most heterogenous elements.Central Asian, Timurid, Indian, Persian and European.The manufacture of carpets and textiles flourished, as did painting and the applied arts.Finally, the Mughal period marks the highest point in the development of Persian literature in India.

Mughals comprised an Indian empire founded by Babur (in 1526), which, with a short interregnum under the Surs (1540-1555), continued until the invasion of Nadir Shah (1739).The dynasty formally survived until 1857, when the last emperor, Bahadur Shah, was deposed by the British.Agra was the capital of the empire during most of its earlier period, but during the later years of Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658), Delhi acquired this status.(Earlier on Fateh-pur Sikri and Lahore served as capitals for short periods.)

Under Babur and Humayun (r. 1530-1556), the empire essentially functioned as a successor to the Lodi kingdom (1451-1526) and ruled an area largely confined within modern Afghanistan, the British North-West Frontier Province and Punjab, and the present Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.Extensive conquests by Akbar (r. 1556-1605) brought under subjugation the remaining parts of North India and a significant portion of the Deccan.The process of expansion in the Deccan continued under Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) and Shah Jahan, but it was under Aurangzeb (r. 1659-1707) that the maximum limits in the south were reached, the entire peninsula being annexed except for Kerala.

Nonetheless during the same reign, the rise of Maratha power under Shivaji (1627-1680) and his successors began to undermine Mughal authority.Nadir Shah’s invasion (1739) exposed the empire’s full weakness, and thereafter the Mughal emperor ceased to exercise actual control over much of the larger part of the empire.Many potentates in India (including the Marathas and the British East India Company) still thought it politic to bolster their authority by grants of offices from the emperor, but Shah Alam II (r. 1761-1806) became a mere pensioner of the English (1765-1771), of the Marathas (1771-1803), and finally, of the English again, holding sway merely over the Red Fort.The 1857 rebellion gave the empire its last flicker.With the massacre of the princes by the English and exile to Burma of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor, its nominal existence too came to an end.

A centralized, heavily systematized administration was a notable feature of the Mughal Empire.Its basic structure was established by Akbar.At the center, the emperor appointed ministers such as Wakilus Saltanat (after Bairam Khan, a largely titular office, usually unoccupied), the Diwan-i A’la (in charge of grants of mansahs, upkeep of the army, and intelligence service), the Sadrus Sudur (in charge of appointments of the judicial officers and charity grants), and others.These ministers controlled fairly well-organized departments; their subordinates were posted in the provinces (subas).Akbar, too, had been responsible for dividing the whole empire into subas, appointing for each a governor (Sipahsalar, Nazim).The governor’s powers were greatly restricted by his colleagues the Diwan, the Bakhshi, and the Sadr, who were responsible only to the corresponding ministers at the center.Each suba was divided into sarkars, commandants called faujdars were appointed to maintain law and order in the sarkars, through their actual jurisdictions did not always coincide with sarkar boundaries.Each district (pargana) had a Muslim judge (qazi) and two semi-hereditary officials (qanungo and chaudhuri) who were concerned with tax collection.

All higher offices (which until the eighteenth century never became hereditary and had, in actual practice, only short incumbencies) were filled by persons who belonged to the mansab cadre.Each of them held a “rank” (mansab) marked by double numbers, for example, 5,000 zat, 3,000 sawar (now conventionally represented as 5,000/3,000).The lowest mansab was 10/10.The first rank broadly indicated status and personal pay; the second determined the size of military contingent and the pay for it.Thus, every mansab holder was supposed to be a military officer as well: the higher mansab holders were called umara, or commanders.Apart from maintaining his contingent, the mansab holder could be appointed to any office or post, for which he did not receive any additional salary.The mansab was granted by the emperor alone, and a man rose as he received mansab enhancements.Imperial disapproval was usually shown by a reduction in mansabs.

The pay claims of mansab holders were met either in cash or by assignment of transferable jagirs, or revenue assignments.Each area with set limits was assigned a jama (or expected net revenue collection), and the jama of jagirs always had to equal the pay due to the mansab holder.The jagirdar arranged for tax collection through his own establishment of officials (sarkar); the principal revenue collector was called amil.Areas whose revenues were reserved for the Imperial Treasury were called khalisa-i sharifa and administered by imperial officials according to detailed rules.The jagirs were always transferable, and down to Aurangzeb’s death (1707) the transfer system was maintained rigorously.

Land revenue was the empire’s main source of income.The sovereign did not formally claim to be proprietor of the soil, as was alleged by contemporary European travelers (e.g., Bernier), but the land tax was heavy enough -- often half the produce -- to be practically equal to rent.Various methods of revenue assessment and collection were employed, such as simple crop sharing, crop sharing based on land measurement, cash-revenue rates imposed on different crops, lump sum demand on village, and so on.Cash nexus -- an agglomerate of impersonal monetary factors specifically considered as the basis for human relations -- prevailed over large areas.A share was always left for zamindars, or hereditary landed elements, and local officials such as village headmen.

The Mughal court was the nucleus of a splendid flowering of art and culture, based on a blending of Indian and Perso-Islamic traditions.The most visible evidence of this high culture survives in the great buildings the Mughals have left behind. These buildings include such edifices as the palace-city of Fatehpur Sikri (built by Akbar), the forts at Agra and Delhi (built by Akbar and Shah Jahan), and, above all, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan’s queen, Mumtaz Mahal, the celebrated Taj Mahal at Agra.

Under the emperors’ patronage, a distinct school of painting took shape.Descended from the Persian school, it liberally accepted both Indian and European influences.It produced such masters of miniature painting as Abu’l Hasan (who flourished under Akbar), Mansur (Jahangir), and Bichitr (Shah Jahan).Persian was the language of the Mughal court and administration, and Akbar’s court brought together a notable assemblage of Persian writers.The poets Urfi and Faizi have permanent niches in the history of Persian literature.Abu’l Fazl was not only a master of Persian prose (of the very ornate kind) but also a reflective writer, who compiled two distinctive works in Persian, a detailed history of Akbar’s reign (Akbarnama) and a description, largely statistical, of Akbar’s empire and administration (A’in-i Akbari).The Mughals did much to spread the use of Persian.Ultimately, a literary language based on a blending of Hindi and Persian appeared in the eighteenth century in the form of Urdu, whose very name proclaimed its association with the court (urdu means “imperial camp”).Under Akbar, the Mughals patronized a liberal and scientific revival.

Called upon to govern a multi-religious country, Akbar invoked pantheistic principles to justify a semi-divine monarchy, not attached to any particular religion, but designed to secure “peace among all” (sulh-i kul). He had translations made of Hindu religious texts and held discussions with theologians of all faiths, including Jesuits.The tradition was continued by Prince Dara Shikoh (executed in 1659), who not only translated the Upanishads into Persian but also argued that Hinduism and Islam ultimately represented a single truth.Aurangzeb’s orthodox religious policy partly thwarted this movement, but it was revived in the eighteenth century.Akbar displayed some interest in technology, and his minister Fathullah Shirazi invented mechanical devices, but this interest had no sequel.The patronage of astronomy proved more fruitful, leading to the establishment of the great observatories by Raja Jai Singh Sawai (d. 1743), which laid the basis for his great astronomical work, the Zij-i Muhammad shahi.

It is estimated by some that the population of India in 1600 was about 100 million.Other estimates place it at about 150 million.Either way, by 1800, the population was over 200 million.The larger portion of the population lived in villages, the urban component being estimated at about 15 percent of the total population.Agriculture was mainly peasant based, but there was considerable production for the market.This combination has led to revisions of the nineteenth century theories of the pre-colonial village community.It is true, however, that the sale of produce was largely induced by the imposition of the heavy land-revenue demand, which was mainly realized in money.Another feature of the agrarian scene was the presence of a class of hereditary intermediaries called zamindars, whose own fiscal and other rights are now much discussed by scholars.The main claimants to the land revenue were the jagirdars, who constituted the Mughal nobility.Since their jagirs were frequently transferred, the jagirdars tended to extort as much as possible from their temporary assignments, although the Mughal administration tried to impose a number of controls over them.Some have argued that the system tended to destroy the resources of the country and was a cause of the empire’s decline.This, however, is debatable.On the basis of the large income of the jagirdars (as well as the emperor) there arose a flourishing urban economy, with a large craft sector.When direct trade began with Europe, through the Portuguese and then the Dutch (company established, 1602) and the English (1600), India exported large quantities of cotton cloth, silk, spices, indigo, and saltpeter, and it imported mainly silver and much smaller quantities of gold.The bullion imports were intended to raise prices in India and caused a moderate price revolution in the seventeenth century.Mughal India had a uniform currency system based on the silver rupee and a fairly developed indigenous system of commercial credit, bills of exchange, deposit banking, and transport and marine insurance.

Great Mughals see MughalsTimurids see Mughals

Mughira ibn Sa‘id al-Bajali, al-Mughira ibn Sa‘id al-Bajali, al-. Shi‘a rebel from Kufa from the eighth century.About the time of his revolt in Kufa in 737, he is described as an old man.He was a follower of Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin and, after the latter’s death, of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya.He taught that he himself was the imam until Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah’s appearance as the Mahdi.He elevated the rank of the ‘Alid imam to divinity.He was put to death by Khalid ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Qasri.The extremist Shi‘a sect of the al-Mughiriyya is named after him.

al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah ibn Abī ʿĀmir ibn Masʿūd ath-Thaqafī was one of the more prominent companions of Muhammad. He belonged to the tribe of Thaqif of Ta'if.

He became a convert to Islam after the battle of Taif in 628. On conversion to Islam he took part in all the battles. He was a brave fighter. He lost an eye in the battle of Yamama. During the caliphate of Umar, ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān was the Governor of Basra while Mughira was the Deputy Governor. ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān died in 639, and Mughira became the Governor of Basra.

During a Military Expedition two Generals namely Mughira and Nufay ibn al-Harith developed some dispute.

There was already some animosity between Mughira and Ziad ibn Abiya (relative of Abu Bakara Thaqeefi), and the latest dispute added fuel to the fire. During a prayer, Mughira was stopped by Abu Bakar from leading a prayer on the context that Mughira was seen in an Objectionable Position by both Abu Bakara and Ziad so Mughira could not lead a prayer. Both of them also wrote a complaint against Mughira and sent it to Umar in Medina.

Umar called both the parties in Medina and started proceeding in the case. During the proceedings, the witnesses disputed their statement and Ziad ibn Abiya could not prove the statement against Mughira which resulted in 30 Whips on Ziyad. The lashing was itself done by Umar. During the lashing Mughira tried to intervene but he was severely reprimanded by Umar who said to Mughira, be silent, had this testimony been proper you would have also been punished.

Abu Bakrah insisted that Mughira was guilty of fornication with Umm Jamil. Umm Jamil belonged to the same tribe as that of Mughira and was a widow.

The house of Abu Bakra Thaqeefiacross the street faced the house of Mughira. One day a strong wind blew and the windows of the houses of Abu Bakra and Mughira got opened through the force of the wind. He saw through the window that in this house Mughira was locked in an uncompromising state with a woman. He thought that the woman was Umm Jamil. He had some friends with him, and they also saw Mughira involved with a woman.

Abu Bakra refused to pray behind Mughira and wrote to Caliph Umar accusing Mughira of adultery. The report was endorsed by four witnesses who had seen Mughira in an uncompromising state with a woman. Umar took prompt action. Umar appointed Abu Musa as the Governor of Basra and removed Mughira from the office. Mughira was summoned to Madinah to face trial. Abu Bakra and the other witnesses who had made the complaint were also summoned to Madinah.

At the trial, Mughira pleaded not guilty. His defense was that the woman in question was his wife and not Umm Jamil. With great indignation he averred that Abu Bakra and the men with him had no right to interfere in his privacy. Abu Bakra on the other hand maintained that the woman was Umm Jamil. Three other witnesses corroborated the statement of Abu Bakra. The fourth witness Ziyad stated that he had seen the event, but he had not seen the face of the woman and did not know who she was. The other witnesses were cross examined, and it was found that there were some weak points in their evidence. They were asked whether the woman had her back or her face toward them. They said that she had their back to them. They tried to make out that even from her back she could be identified as Umm Jamil. They argued that the scandal of Mughira and Umm Jamil was very common in Basra, and that lady was none else but Umm Jamil.

Under the Quranic law in order to press the charge of adultery definite evidence of four witnesses was necessary. As in this case the fourth witness was not sure of the identification of the woman, Mughira was given the benefit of doubt and acquitted. Abu Bakra and his companions who had levelled the charge were punished with lashes for making a charge which could not be established.

After the whipping, Abu Bakrah still said, "I spoke the truth and the man did do what I said."

Umar motioned to whip him again but Ali said, "If you do, then have the other one stoned!" i.e. the testimonials would now amount to four.

In spite of his acquittal, Mughira was not restored to the office of the Governor, and was detained in Madinah. He made some show of indignation at having been treated shabbily in a case which was false. Umar called him to his presence and issued the warning: "O Mughira offer thanks to God that full evidence was not forthcoming against you, and you have been saved from disgrace by a technical flaw. Grounds of suspicion against you were very much there, and I have given you the benefit of doubt. Remember that if the evidence was complete, you would have been stoned to death."

In 643 Umar appointed Mughira as the Governor of Kufa. When Uthman became the Caliph, Mughira continued in his office for one year, and was thereafter deposed to make room for the appointment of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqas according to the testament of Umar.

Mughira participated in the migration to Medina and later during Umar's caliphate, he became the governor of Kufa. He was the owner of Abu-Lu'lu'ah, the man who killed Umar.

Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, al- (632-702).Arab general and the founder of the influential family of the Muhallabids.

MuhallabidsMuhallabids (in Arabic, al-Mahaliba).Kinsmen and clients of Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra.They rose to power in the service of the Umayyads, were crashed in 720, but staged a spectacular come back under the ‘Abbasids and remained politically prominent until the reign of the Caliph al-Ma’mun.They also produced a large number of men of culture, a rebel leader of the Zanj, and the Buyid vizier Abu Muhammad al-Muhallabi.

The Muhallabids were a dynasty of governors in Ifriqiya under the Abbasid Caliphate (771-793)

Although subject to the Abbasids, they enjoyed a great deal of autonomy and were able to maintain Arab rule in the face of revolts by the Berbers. They were unable however to prevent the formation of the kingdoms of the Idrisids in Morocco and the Rustamids in central Algeria.

Ifriqiya experienced a significant economic and cultural upturn under the Muhallabids. Above all, agriculture was reinvigorated by the expansion of irrigation systems. The dynasty was overthrown in 793 by a military rebellion, and in the ensuing anarchy the Aghlabids established themselves as rulers of a separate Emirate (800-909).

Mahaliba, al- see Muhallabids

MuhammadMuhammad (Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh) (Muhammed) (Mohammed) (ca. 570/571, Mecca – June 8, 632).The Prophet of Islam.Belief that Muhammad is the Messenger of God is second only to belief in the Oneness of God according to the Muslim profession of faith (in Arabic, shahada), the quintessential Islamic creed.Muhammad has a highly exalted role at the heart of Muslim faith.At the same time the Qur’an and Islamic orthodoxy insist that he was fully human with no supernatural powers.

Born around 570, Muhammad grew up as an orphan.At the age of 25, he married Khadija, and it was at the age of 40 or 43 that he began to have visions and hear mysterious voices.Key themes in his early recitations include the idea of the moral responsibility of man who was created by God, and the idea of judgment to take place on the Day of Resurrection.To these are added vivid descriptions of the tortures of the damned in hellfire and the pleasures of the believers in Paradise.The religious duties that the Qur’an imposed on the Prophet and his followers during the Meccan years were few in number: one should believe in God, appeal to God for forgiveness of sins, offer prayers frequently, including long night vigils, assist others (especially those who are in need), free oneself from the love of delusive wealth and from all forms of cheating, lead a chaste life, and not expose new born girls to die in the desert.

When the Meccan merchants discovered that the Prophet attacked on principle the gods of Mecca, they realized that a religious revolution might be dangerous for their fairs and their trade.But during the Meccan years, the Prophet had not thought of founding a new religion.His task was only that of a warner, charged with the task of informing the Arabs, to whom no prophet had been sent before, that the Day of Judgment was approaching.The Jews and Christians must also testify to the truth of his preaching, since the same revelation had been sent down to them previously.It is in this context that the meaning of the repeatedly discussed term ummi, often translated as “illiterate,” is best understood.As applied to the Prophet in Sura 7:157, the term appears to mean “one who has not previously been given the Book of God.”After the emigration of some of the Prophet’s followers to Abyssinia, a few notables in Mecca were won for the new teaching, but the religious reform of his native city must be regarded as having failed, as also an attempt to establish himself in Ta’if failed.It is at this point that some accounts place the Night Journey to Jerusalem (in Arabic, isra’) and the Ascension to Heaven (in Arabic, mi‘raj).The Prophet persevered in his search for a new sphere of activity outside of Mecca, and found it in Yathrib (later called Medina).

After he had entered into relations with some Medinans who had come as pilgrims to Mecca in 621, the latter began to spread Islam in their native town.After a preliminary conference in al-‘Aqaba, he was able to conclude at the same place, during the pilgrimage of 622, a formal agreement with a considerable number of Medinans, in they pledged themselves to take him into their community and to protect him.These negotiations produced great bitterness in Mecca, and the believers slipped away to Medina, on September 24, 622.

Slowly at first, and then in larger numbers, the Medinans adopted Islam.During his first year in Medina, the Prophet devoted considerable attention to the Jews.His relations with any Christians who may have been in Medina can only be surmised from references in the Qur’an.In the so-called “Constitution of Medina,” the Prophet established a formal agreement with all of the significant tribes and families and he revealed his great diplomatic skills in his dealings with the Jews.But they would not accept his claims to a new religion, and the Qur’an accuses them of concealing parts of their holy scriptures.The Prophet also came to believe that the Christian scriptures did not preserve the actual message and teachings of the prophet Jesus.

It was at this point that the nascent Muslim community took on a pronounced national character through the adoption of various elements from ancient Arabian worship.This decisive change in the course of Islam occurred in the second year of the Hijra (July 623-June 624), and was signaled by the much discussed “change of the Qibla” from Jerusalem to the ancient sanctuary

of the Ka‘ba in Mecca.The Prophet came forward as the restorer of the religion of Abraham that had been distorted by Jews and Christians.

Now the inevitable necessity arose of forcing admission to Mecca.The Prophet sent some of his followers to Nakhla, where they succeeded in capturing a Meccan caravan.In 624, the Muslims succeeded in completely routing the far more numerous Meccan enemy in the battle of Badr.The Jewish tribe of Qaynuqa’ was forced to leave Medina, while alliances were concluded with a number of Bedouin tribes.At the battle of Uhud in 624, the Prophet was wounded and the Meccans were victorious, but the expected negative consequences of this setback did not materialize in Medina.A second Medinan Jewish tribe, the Banu’l-Nadir, who were delighted at the Prophet’s misfortune, were forced to emigrate to Khaybar.

In 626, the Meccans set out with a large army against Medina.The Prophet had a trench (in Persian, khandaq) dug, and after the siege had dragged on, the besiegers gradually began to retire.After that the Prophet declared war on the Jewish tribe of the Qurayza, and all of their men were killed.

He then turned his major attention to the north and led two of the expeditions himself, one against the Banu Lihyan in 627, the other against the Banu Mustaliq.In 628, he felt strong enough to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca.He encamped at al-Hudaybiya, where he agreed to the proposal of the Meccans that the Muslims would return the following year to perform the so-called “little pilgrimage” (in Arabic, ‘umra).He also concluded a ten years’ truce with the Quraysh.This so-called “Treaty of al-Hudaybiya” represented a brilliant act of diplomacy on his part, in that he had induced the Meccans to recognize him as an equal.In 628, the fertile oasis of Khaybar, inhabited by Jews, was captured.

At about this time, hadith puts the dispatch of letters from the Prophet to the Muqawqis of Alexandria, the Negus of Abyssinia, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, the Persian king, and a number of others, in which he demanded that they adopt Islam.

Early in 629, the Prophet performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and accomplished the reconciliation with his family, the clan of Hashim.A few of the most important Meccans, such as the military men Khalid ibn al-Walid and ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, became Muslims.In the meantime, the Prophet continued his military expeditions.His forces suffered a serious reverse in the battle of Mu’ta in Transjordan against the Byzantines.The belligerent party in Mecca decided to support one of their client clans, the Banu Bakr, against the Banu Khuza‘a, who were allied to the Prophet.This, according to the custom among the Arabs at that time, was seen on both sides as breaking the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya, freeing the Prophet to attack Meccan caravans and even the city itself.

In December 629, Muhammad set out against Mecca.Not far from the town he was met by some Quraysh, who paid homage to him and obtained an amnesty for all Quraysh who abandoned armed resistance.Thus, the Prophet was able to enter his native city practically without a struggle.He acted with great generosity and demanded only the destruction of all idols in and around Mecca.After that he returned to Medina.His forces then routed the Hawazin tribes of central Arabia at Hunayn, but were unable to take Ta’if, which only surrendered in 630.

In 630, many embassies came to Medina from different parts of Arabia to submit to the conqueror of Mecca on behalf of their tribes.Although the Prophet’s appeal for a campaign against northern Arabia met with little support, he carried through with his plan.The campaign against Tabuk in 630 was indecisive by itself, but the petty Christian and Jewish states in the north of Arabia submitted to him, as did small groups of Bedouins in regions so far away from Medina as Bahrain, Oman and South Arabia.

In March 632, the Prophet carried through the first truly Islamic pilgrimage, the so-called “Farewell Pilgrimage.”Only a month before his death, Muhammad began preparations for a great expedition against Trans-jordan that he intended to lead himself.At about this time the appearance of rival “prophet’s,” such as al-Aswad, Musaylima and Tulayha, provoked disturbances.

The Prophet suddenly fell ill and died on June 8, 632.The really powerful factor in his life and the essential clue to his extraordinary success was his unshakable belief from beginning to end that he had been called by God.

Stories about the Prophet, his life and his intercession have permeated popular Muslim thought everywhere, and although he never claimed to have performed any miracle, traditional folk poetry indulges in extensive descriptions of his marvellous attributes and actions.

Immediately after the first Arab conquests, the professional story-tellers began to compose and disseminate stories of the life of the Prophet.A specimen of this sort of literature, which belonged to the historical novel rather than to history, was the “Book of the military campaigns” of Wahb ibn Munabbih.The oldest author of a biography of the Prophet was ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr.Oral transmissions by Aban ibn ‘Uthman (642-723), a son of the third caliph, were collected by ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Mughira (d. before 742).These earliest productions are given the name “military campaigns.”Works of historians like Shihab al-Zuhri (671-741) and Musa ibn ‘Uqba (d. 758) also bear this title.The most famous biography of the Prophet is that of Ibn Ishaq -- the Sirah --in the recension of Ibn Hisham, who preserved almost intact the primitive text of Ibn Ishaq.Other famous biographers in early Islam were Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Waqidi and Muhammad ibn Sa‘d (d. 844).

Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah see MuhammadMuhammed see MuhammadMohammed see MuhammadThe Prophet of Islam see MuhammadThe Messenger of God see Muhammad

Muhammad IMuhammad I.See Mehmed I.

Muhammad IIMuhammad II.See Mehmed II.

Muhammad IIIMuhammad III. See Mehmed III.

Muhammad IIIMuhammad III (Muhammad III ibn ‘Abd Allah, Sayyidi )(Sayyidi Muhammad III ibn ‘Abd Allah) (SidiMuhammad III ibn ‘Abd Allah) (Mohammed Ben Abdellah al-Qatib) (1710/1722-1790). Filali Sharif of Morocco (r.1757-1790).In 1748, he restored his father Mawlay ‘Abd Allah ibn Isma‘il to his throne at Meknes.In 1757, he was proclaimed ruler at Marrakesh and his long reign of serenity was marred only by a limited number of troubles.He repaired the ruins of Fez, and developed great building activities at Marrakesh.

Muhammad III (Mohammed Ben Abdellah al-Qatib) was Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 under the Alaouite dynasty. He was the governor of Marrakech around 1750 and was the son of Sultan Abdallah IV who reigned 1745-1757. He was also sultan briefly during 1748.

A more open-minded ruler than many of his forebears, he signed numerous peace treaties with the European powers, and curtailed the power of the Barbary corsairs. He revived the city of Essaouira and invited Jews and English to trade there. He also built the old medina of Casablanca (Derb Tazi) and renovated the kasbah of Marrakesh. He conquered Mazagan from Portuguese in 1769. An attempt on Melilla ended in defeat in 1775 when British aid failed to materialize.

Under Muhammad III, Morocco became the first country to recognize the United States as an independent nation, in 1777. President George Washington wrote Muhammad in 1789 asking him for aid in allowing American ships to navigate nearby waters.

Muhammad IVMuhammad IV.See Mehmed IV.

Muhammad IVMuhammad IV. (Sayyidi Muhammad IV ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman) (Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman) (Sidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman) (b. c. 1815).Filali Sharif of Morocco (r.1859-1873).Agreements with European powers and with the United States formed part of the policy of reforms that Sidi Muhammad wished to carry out.He lived in perfect entente with the French in Algeria.The visit of Sir Moses Montefiore in an attempt to improve the lot of Jews, which left much to desire, was in important event, although it did not have spectacular results.Sayyidi Muhammad IV ibn 'Abd al-Rahman see Muhammad IV.Sayyidi Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman see Muhammad IV.Sidi Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman see Muhammad IV.

Muhammad VMuhammad V (Muhammad V Reshad) (Mehemmed V Reshad) (Mehmed V Reshad) (Meḥmed-i ẖâmis) (Mehmed V Reşad) (Reşat Mehmet) (November 2/3, 1844 – July 3/4 1918).Ottoman ruler (r.1909-1918).In 1909, Turkey lost Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria.With the peace treaties with Bulgaria (1913), with Greece (1914) and with Serbia (1914), the Ottoman Empire lost all its European possessions west of the Maritza river, and also the Aegean islands and Crete.During the First World War, the Turks fought against the Russians and the English, and successfully defended the Dardanelles.

Mehmed V Reshad was the 35th Ottoman Sultan. He was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid I. His Mother was Valide Sultan Gülcemal, (1826, Caucasus - November 16, 1851, Ortakoy Palace, Ortakoy, Istanbul), originally named Sofiya, a Circassian.

He was born at Topkapı Palace, Istanbul. Like many other potential heirs to the throne, he was confined for 30 years in the Harems of the palace. For nine of those years he was in solitary confinement. During this time he studied poetry of the old Persian style and was an acclaimed poet. On his ninth birthday he was ceremoniously circumcised in the special Circumcision Room (Sünnet Odasi) of Topkapı Palace.

His reign began on April 27, 1909 but he had no real political power. The actual decisions were made by various members of the Ottoman government and finally, during the First World War, by the Three Pashas: Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, and Cemal Pasha.

Mehmed V's only significant political act was to formally declare Jihad against the Allies on November 11, 1914. This was the last genuine proclamation of Jihad in history by a Caliph, as the Caliphate lasted until 1924. The proclamation had no noticeable effect on the war, despite the fact that many Muslims lived in Ottoman territories. The Arabs eventually joined the British forces against the Ottomans with the Arab Revolt in 1916.

Mehmed V hosted Kaiser Wilhelm II, his World War I ally, in Istanbul on October 15, 1917. He was made Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia on January 27, 1916 and of the Empire of Germany on February 1, 1916.

Mehmed V died at Yıldız Palace on July 3, 1918, only four months before the end of World War I. Thus, he did not live to see the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. He spent most of his life at the Dolmabahçe Palace and Yıldız Palace in Istanbul. His grave is in the historic Eyüp district of the city.

Muhammad VMuhammad V (Sīdī Muḥammad Ben Yūsuf) (b. August 10, 1909, Fès, Mor.—d. February 26, 1961, Rabat).Sultan of Morocco (r. 1927-1957) and King of Morocco (r.1957-1961).Early in the 1950s, Muhammad V started to oppose the French, as he associated himself with the independence movement.Muhammad V was deposed by France in 1953 because he had refused to sign agreements with them and as there had been rioting in the public.Muhammad V stayed in exile until 1955.When Morocco became independent in 1956, and Muhammad became king, he disengaged himself from the independence movement and made effective use of the military forces with his son Hassan in the position of army commander.

Muḥammad V, sultan of Morocco (1927–57), became a focal point of nationalist aspirations, secured Moroccan independence from French colonial rule, and then ruled as king from 1957 to 1961.

Muḥammad was the third son of Sultan Mawlāy Yūsuf; when his father died in 1927, French authorities chose him to be successor, expecting him to be more compliant than his two older brothers. The first indication of Muḥammad’s nationalist feelings occurred in 1934, when he urged the French to abandon the Berber Dahir legislation of 1930 that had established different legal systems for the two Moroccan ethnic groups, Imazighen (Berbers) and Arabs—a policy resented by both groups. It had been promulgated to help the protectorate, but, instead, it divided the country and accelerated nationalism. Wanting to make Muḥammad a national symbol, the Moroccan nationalists organized the Fête du Trône (Throne Day), an annual festival to commemorate the anniversary of Muḥammad’s assumption of power. On these occasions he gave speeches that, though moderate in tone, encouraged nationalist sentiment. The French reluctantly agreed to make the festival an official holiday, and for the next decade Muḥammad remained above nationalist agitation but gave it his tacit support.

During World War II (1939–45), Muḥammad supported the Allies, and in 1943 he met with United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who encouraged him to seek independence. Muḥammad’s determination increased when French authorities arrested a number of nationalists in January 1944. In 1947, he visited Tangier (then an international city) and made a speech stressing Moroccan links with the Arab world, making no mention of France. He found an effective means of resistance in refusing to sign, and thus make legally binding, the decrees of the French resident general.

In 1951, the French encouraged a tribal rebellion against him, and, on the pretext of protecting him, they surrounded his palace with troops. Under these conditions he was induced to denounce the nationalist movement. In August 1953 the French deported the sultan to Corsica and then to Madagascar. Acts of terrorism multiplied during Muḥammad’s absence, and his prestige soared. The French government, already faced with rebellion in Algeria, allowed him to return in November 1955, and in March 1956 he negotiated a treaty securing full independence.

Thereafter, Muḥammad asserted his personal authority, ruling with moderation. He took the title of king in 1957. His son al-Ḥasan Muḥammad (who later reigned as Hassan II) resented the slow pace of government, and in May 1960 Muḥammad made him deputy prime minister and relinquished active direction of the country.

Muhammad V (Mohammed V) died on February 26, 1961 after a minor operation.

The Mohammed V International Airport of Casablanca is named after him, as well as numerous universities and various public spaces across Morocco. There is an Avenue Mohammed V in nearly every Moroccan city.

Among his wives was Lalla Abla bint Tahar, who became the mother of his son and successor King Hassan II.

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan completed primary and secondary schooling at the Royal Palace College before entering the Mohammed V University in Rabat; there he received a bachelor’s degree in law in 1985 and, three years later, a master’s degree in public law. For a brief period in the late 1980s the crown prince studied at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. He then entered the University of Nice in France, where he received a doctorate in law in 1993. His doctoral thesis dealt with relations between the Arab Maghreb Union and the European Economic Community. He was educated in both Arabic and French, and literature and art were among his interests.

Over time the heir to the throne of Morocco took on increasing responsibilities in support of his father, King Hassan II. He became known particularly for advancing efforts to help the poor. In 1985 his father gave him the task of coordinating the country’s armed forces. As his father’s health declined in the 1990s, the crown prince represented him at a number of political meetings and ceremonial functions, both in Morocco and in other countries.

Hours after the death of his father on July 23, 1999, Muḥammad took the throne as Muḥammad VI. The new king thus joined two other young rulers of the Arab world—King ʿAbdullah II of Jordan, who was a personal friend, and Sheikh Ḥamad ibn ʿĪsā Āl Khalīfah of Bahrain—who had both assumed power in 1999 upon the deaths of their fathers.

Hassan II, who had ruled Morocco for 38 years, was widely held to be a moderating influence among Arab nations and in relations between the Arab world and the West. His death and the assumption of the throne by his son were seen as part of a pattern of the transfer of power between generations that was taking place in a number of Arab and Middle Eastern countries. The transition from the rule of Hassan II to that of Muḥammad VI went smoothly and was without incident, and the new king continued in the moderate tradition established by his father.

In June 2011 Muḥammad VI attempted to head off a growing pro-democracy protest movement in Morocco by proposing a new constitution that he claimed would curb his powers and strengthen representative government. The new document expanded the powers of the prime minister and parliament but preserved the king’s role as the final authority in all areas of government and gave him exclusive control over religious affairs, security, and strategic policy. Voters approved the new constitution in a referendum in July, over the objections of critics who charged that it did too little to open the political system.

Muhammad VI WahdeddinMuhammad VI Wahdeddin (Mehemmed VI Wahdeddin) (Mehmed Vahideddin) (Mehmed VI Wahid ed-din) (Meḥmed-i sâdis) (Mehmed Vahideddin) (Mehmet Vahdettin))(b. January 14/February 2, 1861 - d. May 15/16, 1926, San Remo, Italy).Ottoman ruler (r.1918-1922).The landing of Greek forces in Izmir in 1919 led to the growth of a Turkish national resistance movement which opposed the policy of appeasement pursued by the sultan and his government.Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk) assumed the leadership of this movement.In 1922, the Grand National Assembly at Ankara separated the offices of sultan and caliph, and declared the Ottoman sultanate abolished from March 16, 1920, the date of the Allied occupation of Istanbul.Muhammad left Turkey on November 17, 1922.The next day the Grand National Assembly divested him of the caliphate, in favor of his uncle Abdulmecid II.Muhammad’s proclamation from Mecca, in which he maintained that the separation of the caliphate from the sultanate was contrary to Muslim law, found hardly any response in the Islamic world.

Mehmed VI was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire. His forced abdication and exile in 1922 prepared the way for the emergence of the Turkish Republic under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk within a year.

Clever and perceptive, Mehmed VI became sultan July 4, 1918, and attempted to follow the example of his elder brother Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909) by assuming personal control of the government. After the Armistice of Mudros (October 30, 1918) and the establishment of the Allied military administration in Istanbul on December 8, 1918, the nationalist–liberal Committee of Union and Progress had collapsed, and its leaders had fled abroad. The Sultan, opposed to all nationalist ideologies and anxious to perpetuate the Ottoman dynasty, acceded to the demands of the Allies. On December 21, he dissolved Parliament and undertook to crush the nationalists.

The nationalists, however, who were organizing in Anatolia under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, sought the Sultan’s support in their struggle for territorial integrity and national independence. After negotiations, the Sultan agreed to elections, which were held late in 1919, and the nationalists won a majority in the new parliament. The Allies, alarmed at the prospect of Turkish unity, extended the occupied area in Istanbul and arrested and exiled the nationalists.

The Sultan dissolved the Parliament (April 11, 1920), and the nationalists set up a provisional government in Ankara. Mehmed’s signing of the Treaty of Sèvres (August 10, 1920), however, reduced the empire to little but Turkey itself and served to strengthen the nationalist cause. After their defeat of the Greeks, the nationalists were in solid control of Turkey. The Grand National Assembly on November 1, 1922, abolished the sultanate. Sixteen days later Mehmed VI boarded a British warship and fled to Malta. His later attempts to install himself as caliph in the Hejaz failed.

Muhammad ‘AbduhMuhammad ‘Abduh (b. 1849, Nile Delta - d. July 11, 1905, Alexandria, Egypt).Muslim theologian and founder of the Egyptian modernist school.Jamal al-Din al-Afghani exercised a profound influence upon him, but Muhammad ‘Abduh held that only gradual reform could be successful.He was banished from Egypt in 1882.In 1884, he published in Paris, together with al-Afghani, a paper which exercised a very great influence on the development of nationalism in the Muslim east.In 1889, he returned to Cairo and became in 1899 state mufti, the highest clerical post in Egypt.In 1897, he published his most important work, the Treatise of the Oneness (of God).His commentary on the Qur’an remained unfinished.Muhammad ‘Abduh’s advanced ideas provoked the most vigorous hostility in orthodox and conservative circles.His program was to reform the Muslim religion by bringing it back to its original condition, to renovate the Arabic language, and to recognize the rights of the people in relation to the government.

Muhammad ‘Abduh lived all his life in Egypt until he was banished by the British in 1882 following an unsuccessful revolt against the British colonial authority.Muhammad ‘Abduh traveled, wrote, and taught abroad until he was allowed to return to Egypt in 1889.

Muhammad ‘Abduh’s early life was dedicated to traditional Qur’anic studies and mysticism.During the 1870s, Muhammad ‘Abduh was influenced by Jamal al-Din Afghani, who was then living in Cairo.While in exile in Paris, Muhammad ‘Abduh and Jamal al-Din edited a monthly journal.Upon his return to Cairo, Muhammad ‘Abduh expressed his views through a monthly journal edited by his disciple, Muhammad Rashid Rida.

The thought of Muhammad ‘Abduh reflects a consistent balance.He was concerned not only with the liberation of Muslims from colonial rule but also with the purification of their religious beliefs.However, he recognized that European rule had introduced healthy changes into Egyptian society, and he wanted to preserve these changes within a system that was at once rational and Islamic.For Muhammad ‘Abduh, commitment to science and active participation in public life were consistent with Islamic ideals, and he waged an unrelenting battle against secular materialism and Muslim conservatism.

Muhammad ‘Abduh opposed the orthodox religious leaders, the ‘ulama’ and fuqaha, who in turn were bitterly resentful of his teaching and influence.In their view, Islam consisted in adherence to the teachings of the four Sunni schools of law.Muhammad ‘Abduh argued for a sensitive exercise of individual judgment (ijtihad) in matters of law and also a reliance of ijma’, or community consensus, in determining legislative policy.Like Ibn Taymiyya, Muhammad ‘Abduh also inveighed against saint worship, opposing the tomb cults which abound in Egypt.Yet by simultaneously stressing the interior, ethical dimension of Muslim duties, Muhammad ‘Abduh seemed to follow the mystical method of al-Ghazali.

On balance, Muhammad ‘Abduh’s dominant theological outlook was more rational than mystical.The Mu’tazila, in his view, provided the guidelines by which the superiority of Islam over Christianity could be reasserted and the honor of Egypt upheld against the tidal wave of European intellectual colonialism.Muhammad Abduh’s goal was to have original and genuine Islam, stripped of its secondary accretions, flourish again -- as consistent with the pragmatic demands of Western technology as it had been with the intellectual precepts of Greek philosophy.

Muhammad Aguibu Tall was the son of al-Hajj ‘Umar, the founder of the Tukolor Empire.When ‘Umar died in 1864, Muhammad Aguibu’s brother, Ahmadu ibn ‘Umar Tall, inherited the empire.

Ahmadu made Muhammad ruler of Segu but soon came to distrust him as overly ambitious.Muhammad later became emir of Dinguiray which he ruled seemingly independently of Ahmadu.

When the French military leader Archinard set out to conquer the Tukolor Empire, Archinard used the rivalry between the two brothers as a wedge.After the fall of Segu in 1890, Archinard contacted Muhammad and claimed that it was only Ahmadu and not the Tukolor nation whom the French were fighting.Muhammad answered amicably and formally submitted to the French the following year.

Muhammad’s acquiescence to French rule, divided the Tukolor and facilitated the fall of Macina, Ahmadu’s last base, in 1893.Archinard rewarded Muhammad by making him the new ruler of Macina.This was a wise move on Archinard’s part since, by making Muhammad the ruler of Macina, he averted further resistance from the population.The population of Macina appeared to be far more willing to accept the substitution of one son of ‘Umar for another.

Muhammad proved to be an unpopular ruler under the French colonial system.He was demoted in 1903.

Muhammad al-BaqirMuhammad al-Baqir (Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī al-Baqir) (Muhammad ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin) (al-Baqir)(676-743).Fourth Imam of the Isma’ili and Fifth Imam ofTwelver traditions of Shi‘a Islam (c.712-c.743).Muhammad al-Baqir spent his life in contemplation and religious studies, avoiding active involvement in the politics of his time.He is remembered primarily for his religious and juridical teachings, his pious wisdom, and for counseling his brother Zayyid against open rebellion.His body was buried at al-Baqi cemetery in Medina.He was succeeded by Jafar as-Sadiq.

Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī al-Baqir was the Fifth Imām to the Twelver Shī‘ah and Fourth Imām to the Ismā‘īlī Shī‘ah. His father was the previous Imām, ‘Alī ibn Ḥusayn, and his mother was Fatimah bint al-Hasan. He is highly respected by Shia Muslims for his religious knowledge and Islamic scholarship.

Muhammad al-Baqir was born in the city of Medina. He was the first Imam whose lineage ascended and reached the Islamic prophet Muhammad both from the paternal and maternal sides.

Muhammad al-Baqir was awarded the title Baqir al-'Ulum "Revealer of Knowledge" because of his religious and judicial knowledge and his enthusiasm to teach. Muhammad al-Baqir’s son, Ja'far al-Sadiq, was his student and benefited from his knowledge. He founded the precursor of Shī‘ah jurisprudence.

Despite his aversion to politics, the Umayyad rulers harassed Muhammad al-Baqir for fear of his popularity and influence. The actions of his brother and other kinsmen made them distrust him.

Muhammad al-Baqir was poisoned by the order of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. His body was buried beside the graves of other Imams in the graveyard of Jannatul Baqee'.Baqir, Muhammad al- see Muhammad al-BaqirMuhammad ibn 'Ali al-Baqir see Muhammad al-BaqirMuhammad ibn ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin see Muhammad al-BaqirBaqir, al- see Muhammad al-Baqir

Muhammad ‘Ali dynastyMuhammad ‘Ali dynasty.Dynasty of Albanian-Ottoman origin that reigned in Egypt from 1805 until Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Free Officers deposed King Faruq in 1952 and his infant son Ahmad Fu’ad II the following year and established a republic.The rulers bore the titles pasha and wali (governor) until 1867; they were called khedive (viceroy) until 1914, sultan until 1922, and finally king until 1953.

Muhammad ‘Ali and Ibrahim (who ruled only a few months and predeceased his mentally incapacitated father) are usually depicted as able rulers, and Isma‘il and Fu’ad I as energetic if not unflawed ones.‘Abbas I, Tawfiq, ‘Abbas II, Husayn Kamil, and Faruq are generally seen as capricious, weak, or subservient to Western interests.

Arriving with an Ottoman force sent to expel Napoleon Bonaparte’s French expedition (1798-1801), Muhammad ‘Ali maneuvered until the sultan recognized a fait accompli by naming him governor of Egypt.The ‘ulama’ of al-Azhar mosque helped him to power, but he soon curbed their political influence and economic autonomy.The hard-driving “founder of modern Egypt” dug irrigation canals, promoted cotton as a cash crop for export, centralized taxes, and established monopolies in industry and foreign trade.Western advisers helped him build a modern army and schools to train officers, administrators, and technicians.Muhammad ‘Ali conquered parts of Arabia, the Sudan, and Greece in the name of the sultan, then rebelled in the 1830s and seized Palestine and Syria.The European powers forced him back to his Egyptian base and made him pare down his army, but he obtained the hereditary governorship of Egypt for his line.

Some revisionists have challenged the prevailing view of ‘Abbas I as a xenophobic and reactionary despot.The weak willed Sa‘id went along with the Suez Canal project and opened wide the door to European exploitation.Isma‘il formally opened the Canal, promoted education and public works, and conquered a new African empire.But bankruptcy led to his deposition in 1879, followed by the ‘Urabi revolt, and the British occupation of 1882.Tawfiq was somewhat a tool of the British, and ‘Abbas II was an ineffectual rebel against the powerful British consul general, Lord Cromer.

Young ‘Abbas II and Faruq squandered their initial popularity, and the dynasty’s failure to come to terms with Egyptian nationalism in the twentieth century proved fatal.Faruq was the first of the line to feel fully at home speaking Arabic.Fu’ad I cultivated al-Azhar (he harbored ambitions of becoming caliph) and founded Cairo University and other cultural institutions, but he is remembered best for his autocracy and his enmity toward the popular nationalist Wafd Party.By continuing his father’s feud with the Wafd, Faruq forfeited the possibility of becoming a nationalist rallying point like Sultan Muhammad V of Morocco.Faruq’s private life became a national embarrassment and contributed to his overthrow.Because of the dynasty’s alien origins, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s claim to be the first indigenous ruler of Egypt since the pharaohs was not entirely fanciful.

The reigning members of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty (1805-1953) were:

Wālis, self-declared as Khedives (1805-1867)

* Muhammad Ali (9 July 1805-1 September 1848)* Ibrahim (reigned as Wāli briefly during his father's incapacity) (1 September 1848 - 10 November 1848)* Abbas I (10 November 1848 - 13 July 1854)* Sa‘id I (13 July 1854 - 18 January 1863)* Ismai'l I (18 January 1863 - 8 June 1867)

Muhammad ‘Ali PashaMuhammad ‘Ali Pasha (Mehmed ‘Ali Pasha) (Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha) (Mehmet Ali Pasha) (Muhammed Ali Paša) (Mehmet Ali Paşa) (March 4, 1769, Kavala, Macedonia, Ottoman Empire – August 2, 1849, Alexandria, Egypt). Ottoman governor general and effective ruler of Egypt (r.1801-1848).He assumed the title khedive (in Persian, khadiv – “lord”), granted officially in 1867 by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz to his grandson Isma‘il Pasha.Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha’s career can be divided into four distinct periods: (1) his rise to the position of governor general and the consolidation of his power [1801-1811]; (2) the period in which he laid the economic and military foundations for what later became a regional empire centered on Egypt [1812-1827]; (3) the height of Egyptian hegemony and the beginning of the disintegration of Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha’s economic control system [1828-1841]; and (4) the post-heroic phase and the setting in of realism and retrenchment [1841-1848].

Muḥammad ʿAlī was the pasha and viceroy of Egypt (1805–48) and the founder of the dynasty that ruled Egypt from the beginning of the 19th century of the Christian calendar to the middle of the 20th. He encouraged the emergence of the modern Egyptian state.

Muḥammad ʿAlī’s ethnic background is unknown, although he may have been an Albanian and was certainly a Muslim and an Ottoman subject. His father, Ibrahim Agha, the commander of a small provincial military force that was maintained by the governor of Kavala, died when Muḥammad ʿAlī was a boy, and he was brought up by the governor. At 18, he was married to one of the governor’s relatives, who became the mother of five of Muḥammad ʿAlī’s ninety-five (95) children. He became involved in the tobacco trade, an experience that may account for his later commercial interests.

In 1798, Egypt, at that time a semi-autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, was occupied by a French force under Napoleon Bonaparte. Muḥammad ʿAlī arrived there in 1801 as second in command of a 300-man Albanian regiment sent by the Ottoman government to oust the French from Egypt. With great political skill, he managed by 1805 to be named the wālī, the Ottoman sultan’s viceroy in Egypt, with the rank of pasha.

Nowhere in the Ottoman Empire was there greater opportunity for a total restructuring of society than in Egypt. The three-year French occupation (1798–1801) had disrupted the country’s traditional political and economic structure. Continuing the task begun by the French, Muḥammad ʿAlī put an end to Egypt’s traditional society. He eliminated the Mamelūkes, the former ruling oligarchy, expropriated the old landholding classes, turned the religious class into pensioners of the government, restricted the activities of the native merchant and artisan groups, neutralized the Bedouins, and crushed all movements of rebellion among the peasants. The task of rebuilding Egypt along modern lines now lay before him.

However, although Muḥammad ʿAlī had considerable native intelligence and great personal charm, he was a man of limited knowledge and narrow horizons. He proved insensitive to the possibilities open to him and governed generally according to Ottoman principles. No group within Egyptian society was capable of forcing fundamental changes on him. Elements that might have served as the instruments of change had been crushed at the outset of his regime. Neither was there an ideology capable of bringing together the ruler and the ruled in a great national effort. Finally, Muḥammad ʿAlī had to devote much of his effort to resisting attempts by his Ottoman overlord to remove him from office. His policies were designed more to entrench himself and his family in Egypt as its hereditary rulers than to create a new society.

To strengthen his position within Egypt and to increase his revenues, Muḥammad ʿAlī instituted sweeping changes. By 1815 most of Egypt’s agricultural land had been converted into state land, and profits from agriculture became available to the ruler. He improved Egypt’s irrigation system, on which its agriculture depended. He introduced new crops, such as cotton, which promised high cash returns; and he reorganized the administrative structure of the government to ensure strict control of the economy. He also attempted to construct a modern industrial system to process Egypt’s raw materials. Disbanding his mercenary army, he created a fleet and an army of Egyptians conscripted from the peasant class but commanded by Turks and others recruited from outside Egypt. To supply services for his armed forces, he created Western-style schools to train doctors, engineers, veterinarians, and other specialists. He also began sending educational missions to European countries for training in modern techniques.

His industrial experiments failed, largely because Egypt lacked sources of power, a native managerial class, and a trained working class. Even the agricultural sector declined ultimately because of administrative mismanagement, excessive taxation, military conscription of the peasantry, and his monopolization of trade. By the mid-1830s Muḥammad ʿAlī’s policy of turning Egypt into a massive plantation for his own benefit had reached a point of diminishing returns. Furthermore, his financial requirements had greatly increased because of his military campaigns.

Muḥammad ʿAlī initially supported the Ottoman sultan in suppressing rebellion both in Arabia and in Greece, and he also invaded the Nilotic Sudan in search of recruits for his army and gold for his treasury. Victorious in all three campaigns, until European intervention in Greece caused the destruction of his fleet at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, Muḥammad ʿAlī felt that he was strong enough to challenge the sultan. His first war against the sultan (1831–33) gained him control of Syria as far north as Adana. In the second war (1838–41) the decisive defeat of Ottoman troops at the Battle of Nizip (1839) and the desertion of the Ottoman fleet to Muḥammad ʿAlī led to intervention by the European powers. In July 1840, Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia agreed to end Egyptian rule in Syria, shattering Muḥammad ʿAlī’s hopes for greater independence from the Ottoman Empire. In 1841 he and his family were granted the hereditary right to rule Egypt and the Sudan, but his power was still subjected to restraints, and the sultan’s suzerain rights remained intact.

In the late 1840s, owing to his failing lucidity, Muḥammad ʿAlī retired from office. In 1848, rule was officially transferred to Muḥammad ʿAlī’s son Ibrahim, who died shortly thereafter; Muḥammad ʿAlī himself died in the following year. Although many of his reforms and institutions were abandoned—some before his death—he is nevertheless hailed as having cleared the path for the creation of an independent Egyptian state.

Muhammad ‘Ali Shah QajarMuhammad ‘Ali Shah Qajar (Muhammad 'Ali Shah) (Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar) (June 21, 1872 - April 5, 1925, San-Remo).Ruler of the Qajar dynasty (r.1907-1909).The shah wanted to cause the downfall of those who supported the reforms and to restore the power of the royal family.In 1907, he declared the newly created Nationaly Assembly dissolved and the Constitution abolished as it was contrary to Islamic law.In 1909, he was compelled to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad, still a minor.From Odessa, he plotted his return, and in 1911, he landed at Astarabad, but his forces were defeated.In 1912, he went in exile again. Reza Khan (later Shah) Pahlavi got the National Assembly to depose Muhammad ‘Ali’s successor Ahmad Shah (r. 1909-1924), which brought the Qajar dynasty to an end.

Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar was the Shah of Persia from January 8, 1907 to July 16, 1909. He was against the constitution that was ratified during the reign of his father, Mozzafar-al-Din Shah. In 1907 Mohammad Ali dissolved Majles (Iranian parliament/National assembly) and declared the Constitution abolished because it was contrary to Islamic law. He bombarded the Majles with the military and political support of Russia and Britain. However, he abdicated following a new Constitutional Revolution and he was remembered as a symbol of dictatorship.

He fled to Odessa, Russia (present day Ukraine). Mohammad Ali plotted his return to power from Odessa. In 1911 he landed at Astarabad, Iran, but his forces were defeated. Mohammad Ali Shah fled to Constantinople and died in San Remo, Italy, April 5, 1925. He was buried in the Shrine of Imam Husain, Karbala, Iraq. Ironically, every future shah of Iran since Mohammad Ali Shah would die in exile as well.

His son and successor, Ahmad Shah Qajar was the last ruler in the Qajar dynasty.

Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar had eight children from two marriages. From his first wife he had one son. From his second marriage to Princess Malekeh Jahan daughter of Kamran Mirza Nayeb es-Saltaneh, he had seven children. The oldest child, Gholam Hossein Mirza, died in infancy.

Muhammad al-MahdiMuhammad al-Mahdi (Muhammad al-Muntazar) (868/869-941).Twelfth and last imam of the Twelver Shi‘a.He is also known as Muhammad al-Muntazar (the awaited). His death was the beginning of the complete or greater occultation (in Arabic, al-ghayba al-kubra) that will last until the reappearance of the twelfth Imam in eschatological times.

Very little can be said of Muhammad al-Mahdi with any certainty.In fact, the non-Twelver might very well question whether there was an historical person associated with the name.Jafar, the brother of the eleventh imam denied the existence of any child and claimed the imamate for himself.In fact, accounts of public appearances by Muhammad al-Mahdi often involve his mysterious arrival at key moments to challenge his uncle’s claims.

In brief, the Twelver Shi‘a believe that he was born to a Byzantine slave named Narjis Khatun, and that his birth was kept quiet by his father, the eleventh imam, Hassan al-Askari, because of the intense persecution of the Shi‘a at that time.

Hidden since birth, he reappeared at the age of six to assert his claim to the Imamate, only to then disappear to avoid the sad fate of his father and grandfather.For the next seventy years, he maintained contact with his followers through a succession of four assistants, each known as Bab (Gate), Uthman al Amir; his son Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Uthman; Abu’l Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh as Nawbakhti; and Abu’l Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad as Samarri.The period when he used the four Babs as his form of contacting the Shi‘a is known as the Lesser Occultation.

On his deathbed in 941, the fourth Bab, as Samarri produced a letter from the Imam stating that there should be no successor to as-Samarri and that from that time forward the Mahdi would not be seen until he reappeared as champion of the faithful in the events leading to the Judgment Day.Therefore, after 941 of the Christian calendar, there has been no earthly expression of the Imamate.This period is known as the Greater Occultation.However, it is still possible to seek the Twelfth Imam’s advice or intercession by writing him a letter and leaving it at one of the Shi‘a shrines.To explain the doctrine of the Occultation, Shi‘a theologians draw an analogy to the idea of the sun being occulted by clouds.While the sun is out of sight, it still exists and warms the earth.

There is much that is miraculous associated with al-Mahdi.The various traditions are rich in stories and are often contradictory.Tales range from speaking from the womb, growing at so astonishing a rate that he was full grown by age 6, being raised by birds and with the ability to appear and disappear at will.

While there was much controversy over the succession of the Twelfth Imam, as the Lesser Occultation proceeded, dissent gradually diminished.This can be attributed in part to the active support of the Caliphate for the institution of the Bab.Several opponents of the doctrine of the Occultation were executed and others were persecuted in various ways.Another factor explaining the acceptance of the Lesser Occultation, and by extension the Greater Occultation, was due to the house arrest of the Tenth and Eleventh Imams.Hence, most Shi‘a were already accustomed to the idea of their Imam being hidden from their view.

In the time of the Tenth and Eleventh Imams, a network of wikala (agents) had developed to act as intermediaries between the Imam and his followers, handling money and carrying messages back and forth.In fact, Uthman al-Amri, the first Bab of the Twelfth Imam had held the same position as head of the wikala under the Eleventh Imam.Therefore, for most Shi‘a, there was not a significant change in their relation to their Imam after the death of the Eleventh Imam.

Some titles of the Twelfth Imam include: Sahib az-Zaman (Master of the Age); Sahib al-Amr (Master of Command); al-Qa’im (the one to arise); Bagiyyat Allah (remnant of Allah); and Imam al-Muntazar (the awaited Imam).

Muhammad al-Sadiq BeyMuhammad al-Sadiq Bey (1814-1882). Bey of the Husaynid dynasty in Tunisia (r.1859-1882).The doubling of the personal tax (in Arabic, majba) in 1863 triggered off serious upheavals, which led to pitiless repression by the minister Mustafa Khaznadar.The situation was somewhat redressed by Khayr al-Din Pasha, but the foreign consuls pressed for concessions and privileges.In 1881, Tunisia was occupied by French troops.

Muhammad al-Sadiq Bey was the son of Husayn Bey (ruler of Tunisia, 1824 - 1835) and the third Husaynid mushir (marshal). His reign saw Tunisia's first experiment with constitutionalism, parliamentary rule, and restrictions on the bey's authority; the unbridled control of Prime Minister Mustafa Khaznader; disastrous foreign loans; increased taxes; a bitter revolt; Europe's economic control; the reformist ministry of Khayr al-Din (1873 - 1877); and the imposition of a protectorate by France (1881).

From all reports, Muhammad al-Sadiq was a weak ruler who was easily influenced by his political entourage of Mamelukes, especially Khaznader. Like his predecessor, Ahmad Bey, al-Sadiq evinced an early fascination with the military and showed some talent in that area. Soon after his accession, he sought to reconstitute the army and introduced a military code that provided for conscription of all able-bodied male adults for a period of eight years. However, an individual could send a proxy if he chose not to enter the army.

Upon assuming the throne in 1859, al-Sadiq declared that he would uphold the principles of the Fundamental Pact of 1857. He proclaimed a new constitution in April 1861. It included the principle of ministerial responsibility, financial control vested in the Grand Council, a strict budget controlled by the Grand Council, and a secular court system. Also provided was a "bill of rights" that included provisions for religious freedom and conversion from Islam.

Although the document appeared to guarantee constitutionalism and individual rights, it actually provided for a system that perpetuated the Turkish-Mameluke political elite and increased their power at the bey's expense. It was not, therefore, a parliamentary democracy that emerged, but a traditional elitist oligarchy. The limitations placed on the bey's authority by the constitution increased Khaznader's confidence and freedom of action. He used the constitution to eliminate his enemies on the Grand Council and install his close associates. He increased his financial exactions from the state treasury and more than doubled the national debt within one year. For this reason, he floated his first foreign loan in 1863. To pay for that loan, Khaznader increased the unpopular personal majba tax twofold. This led to the revolt of 1864.

From 1865 to 1869, Khaznader ran the state. In the latter year, after poor harvests, famines, and epidemics, al-Sadiq accepted the International Finance Commission, which aimed to ensure Tunisia's payment of its financial obligations. Khayr al-Din, Khaznader's son-in-law, represented Tunisia on the commission. In 1873, he persuaded the bey to remove Khaznader and install himself as prime minister.

Under Khayr al-Din's prime ministry, a number of reforms were instituted: regulation of the education at Zaytuna University, the founding of Sadiqi College, elimination of abuses in the administration of hubus (religious trust) properties, reformation of the tax system, abolition of the mahallas, improvements in administrative accountability, introduction of protective tariffs on imports, and numerous public works projects. Sharp curtailment of public spending by the bey and support for Ottoman claims to sovereignty over Tunisia forced Khayr al-Din to resign in July 1877. Constraints on the bey's powers were lifted, and the weak Mustafa ibn Ismaʿil became prime minister.

Using the excuse of Tunisia's violations of its border with Algeria, France invaded Tunisia in 1881. On May 12, 1881, Muhammad al-Sadiq Bey signed the treaty, known as the Treaty of Bardo, officially establishing France's protectorate, which lasted until 1956. It was later repudiated by the bey, an action that forced the signature of a second treaty in July. Although this second treaty was never ratified, the La Marsa Convention of June 1883 (signed by Ali Bey, ruler of Tunisia from 1882 to 1900) confirmed the provisions of the Bardo treaty and France's imposition of a protectorate.

Muhammad at-TaqiMuhammad at-Taqi (Muhammad al-Taqī) (Muhammad al-Jawād) (Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Musa) (April 8, 811 – November 24, 835).Ninth Imam of the Twelver Shi‘a.Muhammad at-Taqi was the son of a Nubian slave and only seven years of age when he succeeded his father to the Imamate.His youth proved controversial, with many questioning how such a young child could have the necessary wisdom to be the Imam.However, the patronage of the ruling Caliph Mamun proved instrumental in his succession.He was called to Baghdad from Medina where his father had left him, and was married to Mamun’s daughter, Umm al-Fadl.After a few years in Baghdad, he retired to Medina, where his relations with his wife were strained. Soon after the succession of Ma’mun’s brother, Mu’tasim to the Caliphate, Muhammad at Taqi was called back to Baghdad where he died shortly thereafter.Some Shi‘a sources claim that he was poisoned by his wife at Mu’tasim’s bidding.Though he died very young, Muhammad at-Taqi was known for his intelligence and skill in debate.He is buried next to his grandfather at the shrine of the Kazimayan (near Baghdad, Iraq). He was succeeded by Ali al-Hadl.

Muhammad al-Taqī was the ninth of the Twelve Shi'a Imams. His given name was Muhammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Mūsā, and among his titles, al-Taqī and al-Jawād are the most renowned. Muhammad al-Taqī was the shortest-lived of the Twelve Imāms, dying at the age of 25.

His mother was Khaizaran, a woman from the family of Maria al-Qibtiyya. Hakima, the sister of Ali ar Rida, is reported saying that on the night of al-Taqi’s birth her brother advised her to be present beside his wife. According to legend, al-Taqi at his birth looked at the sky and uttered confirmation of the oneness of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad.

He undertook the responsibility of Imamate at the age of eight years.

He was a child when his father was killed. By reports, he did not act upon childish or whimsical impulses and he accepted adult responsibility and behaviors at an early age. Shi'a writers have propagated claims about his possession of extraordinary knowledge at a young age by likening his circumstances to that of the Islamic tradition of Jesus – a figure called to leadership and prophetic mission while still a child.

After Al-Ma'mun had poisoned Ali al-Raza to death he endeavored to show that the death had come by a natural cause. Al-Ma'mun also brought al-Taqi from Medina to Baghdad with the plan of marrying him to his daughter, Umul Fazal. Although the Abbasids made strenuous attempts to forestall it, the marriage was duly solemnized.

After living in Baghdad for eight years, al-Taqi and Umul Fazal returned to Medina. There he found his relationship with his wife strained and upon the death of al-Ma'mun in 833 his fortunes deteriorated. The successor to his father-in-law was Al-Mu'tasim. With the new Abbasid ruler in power al-Taqi was no longer protected and his interests and position were imperilled by the dislike that al-Mu'tasim had for him.

In 835, al-Mu'tasim called al-Taqi back to Baghdad. The latter left his son Ali al-Hadi (the tenth Shi’ah Imam) with Somaneh (the mother of Ali al-Hadi) in Medina and set out for Baghdad. He resided there for one more year, becoming a well known scholar and popular in debates.

Ultimately, Al-Mu'tasim encouraged Umul Fazal to murder al-Taqi. She duly poisoned him to death on the twenty-ninth of Dhu al-Qi'dah.

Muhammad at-Taqi is buried beside the grave of his grandfather Musa al-Kadhim (the seventh Shi’a Imam) within Al Kadhimiya Mosque, in Kadhimayn, Iraq – a popular site for visitation and pilgrimage by Shi’a Muslims.

Muhammad AyubMuhammad Ayub (Muhammad Ayyub). Son of Amir Shir Ali and the full brother of Yaqub Khan.Upon the death of Muhammad Ayub’s father, Yaqub Khan was crowned King at Kabul, and Ayub took over the governorship of Herat.When he learned of the British occupation of Kabul, he incited the Afghan sardars to rise and expel the invaders.In June 1880, the ulama at Herat proclaimed him amir, and he had coins struck in his name as a sign of his sovereignty.He then marched his army against Kandahar and, on July 27, 1880, he met General Burrows at Maiwand and virtually wiped out Burrow’s forces.Ayub then proceeded to Kandahar and laid siege to the city, but General Roberts came to the rescue, and he was forced to retreat to his base at Herat.He again moved on Kandahar in June 1881, at a time when Britain had recognized Abdul Rahman as Amir of Kabul.The “Iron Amir” easily defeated Ayub’s forces at Kandahar in September 1881 and at the same time dispatched his general Abdul Quddus Khan to capture the lightly garrisoned city of Herat.Being deprived of his base, Ayub was forced to flee to Iran and after a number of years accepted asylum in India for himself and his retinue of 814 individuals.

Muhammad BeyMuhammad Bey.Bey of the Husaynid dynasty in Tunisia (r.1855-1859).The intervention of Great Britain and France in 1857 caused him to proclaim the “Fundamental Pact,” a charter which guaranteed equality and security, and which granted to all, and to foreigners in particular, freedom of trade and the right to own property in the country.

Muhammad bin QasimMuhammad bin Qasim (Muhammad bin Qasim al-Thaqafi) (Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi) (c. 693 – July 18, 715).Arab general known for his conquest of Sind in 711 at the age of seventeen.Having consolidated his authority at Debulk, he defeated Dahir and captured Brahmanabad, becoming master of Lower Sind.Aror (near modern day Rohri), Multan, and the outskirts of Kashmir came under his control.A military leader par excellence, he was recalled at the zenith of his success and executed.It is untrue that he fell from grace for having molested slave girls meant for the caliph.Instead, the death of his father-in-law, Hajjaj, and the consequent political changes were responsible for his fall.His Brahmanabad Declaration assured religious and economic freedom to the Indians and won the cooperation of Indian officers like Moka, Sisakar, and Kaksa.The Sindhis constructed statues of him at Kiraj.

Muhammad bin Qasim al-Thaqafi was an Umayyad general who, at the age of 17, began the conquest of the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River (now a part of Pakistan) for the Umayyad Caliphate. He was born in the city of Taif (in modern day Saudi Arabia). Qasim's conquest of Sindh and Punjab laid the foundations and began the era of Islamic rule in South Asia.

A member of the Thaqeef tribe, which is still settled in and around the city of Taif, Muhammad bin Qasim's father was Qasim bin Yusuf who died when Muhammad bin Qasim was young, leaving his mother in charge of his education. The Umayyad governor Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Muhammad bin Qasim's paternal uncle, was instrumental in teaching Muhammad bin Qasim about warfare and governance. Muhammad bin Qasim married his cousin Zubaidah, Hajjaj's daughter, shortly before going to Sindh. Another paternal uncle of Muhammad bin Qasim was Muhammad bin Yusuf, governor of Yemen. Under Hajjaj's patronage, Muhammad bin Qasim was made governor of Persia, where he succeeded in putting down a rebellion. At the age of seventeen, he was sent by Caliph Al-Walid I to lead an army towards the Indian sub-continent to release the Muslim children and women who were kidnapped by Hindu pirates, when they reached the port of Debul (Karachi) in what are today the Sindh and Punjab regions of Pakistan.

Umayyad interest in the region stemmed from their desire to control the trade route down the Indus River valley to the seaports of Sindh, an important link in the ancient Silk Road. They had earlier unsuccessfully sought to gain control of the route, via the Khyber Pass, from the Turki-Shahis of Gandhara. But by taking Sindh, Gandhara's southern neighbor, they were able to open a second front against Gandhara; a feat they had, on occasion, attempted before.

Umayyad interest in the region was galvanized by the operation of the Mids and others. They had preyed upon Sassanid shipping in the past, from the mouth of the Tigris to the Sri Lankan coast, in their bawarij and now were able to prey on Arab shipping from their bases at Kutch, Debal and Kathiawar. At the time, Sindh was the wild frontier region of al-Hind, inhabited mostly by semi-nomadic tribes whose activities disturbed much of the Western Indian Ocean. Muslim sources insist that it was these persistent activities along increasingly important Indian trade routes by Debal pirates and others which forced the Arabs to subjugate the area, in order to control the seaports and maritime routes of which Sindh was the nucleus, as well as, the overland passage. During Hajjaj's governorship, the Mids of Debal in one of their raids had kidnapped Muslim women travelling from Sri Lanka to Arabia, thus providing a casus belli to the rising power of the Umayyad Caliphate that enabled them to gain a foothold in the Makran, Balochistan and Sindh regions.

The campaign for the conquest of Sindh under Qasim was launched during the same period as the Umayyad conquest of Hispania and an offensive against the Kabul Shahan. It was a period of great expansion of the Umayyads under the governorship of Hajjaj, the first governor of both the Arabi and Ajami halves of the ex-Sassanid domains. Conflict was endemic among the frontier Muslims, with a considerable number seeking refuge with the king of Sindh. The period also experienced an intensification of the rivalry between Arab conquerors and the mawali; new non-Arab converts; who were usually allied with Hajjaj's political opponents and thus were frequently forced to participate in the Jihads on the frontier - such as Kabul, Sindh and Transoxania. Through conquest, the Umayyad Caliphate intended to protect its maritime interest, while also cutting off refuge for fleeing rebel chieftains as well as Sindhi military support to the Sassanid rump state. An actual push into the region had been out of favor as an Arab policy since the time of the Rashidun Caliph Umar bin Khattab, who upon receipt of reports of it being an inhospitable and poor land had stopped further expeditionary ventures into the region.

Muhammad bin Qasim's expedition was actually the third attempt, the first having failed due to stiffer-than-expected opposition as well as heat exhaustion.Hajjaj put more care and planning into the campaign of Muhammad bin Qasim than the first campaign under Badil bin Tuhfa. Hajjaj superintended this campaign from Kufa by maintaining close contact with Muhammad bin Qasim in the form of regular reports and then regularly issuing orders. The army which departed from Shiraz in 710 under Muhammad bin Qasim was 6,000 Syrian cavalry and detachments of mawali from Iraq. At the borders of Sindh he was joined by an advance guard and six thousand camel riders and later reinforcements from the governor of Makran transferred directly to Debal by sea along with five catapults. The army that eventually captured Sindh would later be swelled by the Jats and Mids as well as other irregulars that heard of successes in Sindh. When Muhammad bin Qasim passed through Makran while raising forces, he had to re-subdue the restive Umayyad towns of Fannazbur and Arman Belah (Lasbela). The first town assaulted was Debal and, upon the orders of Al-Hajjaj, Muhammad bin Qasim exacted a bloody retribution on Debal by giving no quarter to its residents or priests and destroying its great temple in the process of freeing the kidnapped women. He then settled a garrison of four thousand colonists in one quarter of Debal, building a masjid over the remains of the original temple.

From Debal, the Arab army then marched north taking towns such as Nerun and Sadusan (Sehwan) peacefully. Again the main temples were razed and masjid were built to replace them, often using their components; additionally one-fifth of the booty including slaves were dispatched to Hajjaj and the Caliph. The conquest of these towns was accomplished easily; however, Dahir's armies being prepared on the other side of the Indus were yet to be fought. In preparation to meet them, Muhammad bin Qasim moved back to Nerun to resupply and receive reinforcements sent by Hajjaj. Camped on the east bank of the Indus, Qasim sent emissaries and bargained with the river Jats and boatmen. Upon securing the aid of Mokah Basayah, "the King of the island of Bet", Muhammad bin Qasim crossed over the river where he was joined by the forces of the Thakore of Bhatta and the western Jats.

At Ar-rur (Nawabshah) he was met by Dahir's forces and the eastern Jats in battle. Dahir died in the battle, his forces were defeated and a triumphant Muhammad bin Qasim took control of Sind. In the wake of the battle enemy soldiers were put to death - but not artisans, merchants or farmers - and Dahir and his chiefs, the "daughters of princes" and the usual fifth of the booty and slaves was sent on to Hajjaj. Soon the capitals of the other provinces, Brahmanabad, Alor (Aror) and Multan, were captured alongside other in-between towns with only light Muslim casualties. Usually after a siege of a few weeks or months the Arabs gained a city through the intervention of heads of mercantile houses with whom subsequent treaties and agreements would be settled. After battles all fighting men were executed and their wives and children enslaved in considerable numbers and the usual fifth of the booty and slaves were sent to Hajjaj. The general populace was encouraged to carry on with their trades and taxes and tributes settled.

With Sindh secured Qasim sent expeditions to Surashtra, where his generals made peaceful treaty settlements with the Rashtrakuta. Sea trade from Central India passed to Byzantium via the ports there. Muhammad bin Qasim wrote out letters to "kings of Hind" to surrender and accept Islam, and subsequently 10,000 cavalry were sent to Kannauj asking them to submit and pay tribute before his recall ended the campaign.

The Arabs' first concern was to facilitate the conquest of Sindh with the fewest casualties while also trying to preserve the economic infrastructure. Towns were given two options: submit to Islamic authority peacefully or be attacked by force (anwattan), with the choice governing their treatment upon capture. The capture of towns was usually accomplished by means of a treaty with a party from among the enemy, who were then extended special privileges and material rewards. There were two types of such treaties, "Sulh" or "ahd-e-wasiq (capitulation)" and "aman (surrender/ peace)". Among towns and fortresses that were captured through force of arms, Muhammad bin Qasim performed executions as part of his military strategy, but they were limited to the ahl-i-harb (fighting men), whose surviving dependents were also enslaved.

Where resistance was strong, prolonged and intensive, often resulting in considerable Arab casualties, Muhammad bin Qasim's response was dramatic, inflicting 6,000 deaths at Rawar, between 6,000 and 26,000 at Brahmanabad, 4,000 at Iskalandah and 6,000 at Multan. Conversely, in areas taken by sulh, such as Armabil, Nirun, and Aror, resistance was light and few casualties occurred. Sulh appeared to be Muhammad bin Qasim's preferred mode of conquest, the method used for more than sixty percent (60%) of the towns and tribes recorded by Baladhuri or the Chachnama. At one point, he was actually berated by Hajjaj for being too lenient. Meanwhile, the common folk were often pardoned and encouraged to continue working. Hajajj ordered that this option not be granted to any inhabitant of Daybul, yet Qasim still bestowed it upon certain groups and individuals.

After each major phase of his conquest, Muhammad bin Qasim attempted to establish law and order in the newly-conquered territory by showing religious tolerance and incorporating the ruling class – the Brahmins and Shramanas – into his administration.

Muhammad bin Qasim's success has been partly ascribed to Dahir being an unpopular Hindu king ruling over a Buddhist majority who saw Chach of Alor and his kin as usurpers of the Rai Dynasty. This is attributed to having resulted in support being provided by Buddhists and inclusion of rebel soldiers serving as valuable infantry in his cavalry-heavy force from the Jat and Meds. Brahman, Buddhist, Greek, and Arab testimony however can be found that attests towards amicable relations between the adherents of the two religions up to the 7th century.

Along with this were:

1. Superior military equipment; such as siege engines and the Mongol bow.2. Troop discipline and leadership.3. The concept of Jihad as a morale booster.4. Religion; the widespread belief in the prophecy of Muslim success, as well as Dahir's marriage to his sister which alienated him from others.5. The Samanis persuading the population to submit and not take up arms in self-defense because Buddhism was a religion of peace.6. The laboring under disabilities of the Lohana Jats.7. Defections from among Dahirs chiefs and nobles.

After the conquest, Muhammad bin Qasim's task was to set up an administrative structure for a stable Muslim state that incorporated a newly conquered alien land, inhabited by non-Muslims. He adopted a conciliatory policy, asking for acceptance of Muslim rule by the natives in return for non-interference in their religious practice, so long as the natives paid their taxes and tribute. He established Islamic Sharia law over the people of the region.However Hindus were allowed to rule their villages and settle their disputes according to their own laws, and traditional hierarchical institutions, including the Village Headmen (Rais) and Chieftains (dihqans) were maintained. A Muslim officer called an amil was stationed with a troop of cavalry to manage each town on a hereditary basis.

Everywhere taxes (mal) and tribute (kharaj) were settled and hostages taken - occasionally this also meant the custodians of temples. Non-Muslim natives were excused from military service and payment of the religiously mandated tax system levied upon Muslim subjects - Zakat, the tax system levied upon them instead was known as the jizya - it was a progressive tax, being heavier on the upper classes and light for the poor. In addition, three percent of government revenue was allocated to the Brahmins.

During his administration, Hindus and Buddhists were inducted into the administration as trusted advisors and governors. A Hindu, Kaksa, was at one point the second most important member of his administration. Dahir's prime minister and various chieftains were also incorporated into the administration.

No mass conversions were attempted and the destruction of temples such as the Sun Temple at Multan was forbidden. However, Qasim was not entirely deferential to the native religions. Many town temples containing idols were converted into mosques. At Multan, 6000 custodians of the Sun-temple were made captive and their wealth confiscated. The temple housing the great idol (sanam) was a source of great wealth for the town, receiving pilgrims from across the region. Muhammad bin Qasim left the idol where it was; but he hung a piece of cow flesh on its neck by way of mockery, and he then built a mosque in the same bazaar at the center of the town.

A small minority who converted to Islam were granted exemption from Jizya. Hindus and Buddhists were given the status of Dhimmi (protected people).

An eccelastical office, "sadru-I-Islam al affal", was created to oversee the secular governors. While some proselytization occurred, the social dynamics of Sind were no different from other regions newly conquered by Muslim forces such as Egypt, where conversion to Islam was slow and took centuries.

Muhammad bin Qasim had begun preparations for further expansions when Hajjaj died, as did Caliph Al-Walid I, who was succeeded by Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, who then took revenge against all who had been close to Hajjaj. Sulayman owed political support to opponents of Hajjaj and so recalled both of Hajjaj's successful generals Qutaibah bin Muslim and Qasim. He also appointed Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, once tortured by Hajjaj and a son of Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah, as the governor of Fars, Kirman, Makran and Sindh. He immediately placed Qasim in chains.

There are two different accounts regarding the details of Qasim's fate:

1. The account from the Chachnama narrates a tale in which Qasim's demise is attributed to the daughters of Dahir who had been taken captive during the campaign. Upon capture they had been sent on as presents to the Khalifa for his harem. The account relates that they then tricked the Khalifa into believing that Muhammad bin Qasim had violated them before sending them on and as a result of this subterfuge, Muhammad bin Qasim was wrapped in oxen hides and returned to Syria, which resulted in his death en route from suffocation. This narrative attributes their motive for this subterfuge to securing vengeance for their father's death. Upon discovering this subterfuge, the Khalifa is recorded to have been filled with remorse and ordered the sisters buried alive in a wall.

2. The Persian historian Baladhuri, however, states that the new Khalifa was a political enemy of the Umayyad ex-governor Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Muhammad bin Qasim’s paternal uncle and thus persecuted all those who were considered close to Hajjaj. Muhammad bin Qasim was therefore recalled in the midst of a campaign of capturing more territory up north. Upon arrival, he was promptly imprisoned in Mosul, (in modern day Iraq) and subjected to torture, resulting in his death.

Whichever account is true, is unknown. What is known however is that he was 22 years old when he was killed by his own Caliph.

Muhammad bin Qasim had a son named Umro bin Muhammad who later became governor of Sindh.

Muhammad Dawud KhanMuhammad Dawud Khan (Mohammed Daoud (Daud) Khan) (Muḥammad Dāwud Ḫān) (Mohammad Daud Khan) (July 18, 1909, Kabul, Afghanistan – April 27, 1978, Kabul, Afghanistan).First president of Afghanistan.He served as prime minister from 1953 to 1963, pushing a policy of economic development, notably road construction, and of social change.His autocratic style contributed to his resignation.After King Zahir Shah (r. 1933-1973) had been deposed, Dawud Khan was chosen president for six years but was overthrown by a military coup in 1978 in which he was killed.

Educated in Kabul and France, Daud Khan, a cousin and brother-in-law of Zahir Shah, pursued a career in the military. He rose to command an army corps in 1939 and held the post of minister of defense from 1946 to 1953. As prime minister (1953–63) he instituted educational and social reforms and implemented a pro-Soviet policy. He was also an advocate of Pashtun irredentism, the creation of a greater “Pashtunistan” in Pashtun areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This caused the relationship between the two countries to deteriorate and eventually led to Daud Khan’s resignation. His overt participation in politics was severely curbed in 1964 when a new constitution barred members of the royal family from holding political office.

On July 17, 1973, Daud Khan led a coup that overthrew Zahir Shah. He declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as president. Once in power, Daud Khan sought to suppress the left and lessen the country’s dependence on the Soviet Union. On April 27, 1978, however, he was killed in a coup that brought to power a communist government under Nur Mohammad Taraki.